Love Potion no9
by CiZiwejes
Summary: Chapter7's up!The ikkou have to disguise as women to get into a town which the townsfolk was rumored to be man-haters.Hakkai/OC,Gojyo/? and Sanzo/?Please RR and enjoy!
1. It's her again!

Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie. 

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Ayie: Okay! Thanks GS-chan, Sk8er boi, Arista Niara and Vex for your encouragements. I write this sequel especially for you guys. I believed I've said that I'm not going to be good girl anymore like I did in the fic "Surviving Life"… I'm going to play naughty, more nasty scenes on Hakkai and Aiko ^__~…but please…expect no yaoi or extreme lime. Gomen in whispering tone I don't have the guts to write yaoi and lime fic, my brother'll kill me if I did! Not to mention that blondie monk too…:p

Sanzo: you write yaoi and lime and I'll blast you head off.    Hairi: Shi—ne!

Ayie: Ch! Baka bouzu and baka o-nii-chan… er…anyway…for new readers who are interested to read this fic… I strongly suggest that you read the OCs' backgrounds and how the storyline started in the first fic "Surviving Life"…this is a sequel ne ^___^. Oh ya! This is a Hakkai/OC… romance fic of course. The title tells it all. Hakkai needs a little romance sometimes…hihi..

Hakkai: Yare….yare desune slaps head

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**Love Potion No.9**

Chapter 1

It just another typical day in Genkai and another typical day of Sanzo-ikkou's journey west, except that today they're heading to another new town in search of another kyuomou that was rumored to be hidden somewhere in the town. They got the rumor from their last stop at a town back in yesterday. It was said that a Sanzo was last seen walking to the town they're heading, he entered the gate to the town, went in and never was seen coming out again. And the ikkou, other than obliging the Sanbutusin's order to embark on a mission to the West to subdue the evil doer, Gyumao, swore to find the last remaining four among the five sutras including Komyou Sanzo's, the seiten kyuomou. So, they decided to go to the town and take a look at it.

"Ma…ma…what a peaceful day is today?" Hakkai chirped out his merry line, which make a day incomplete without it. His arousing voice caused the other passengers boarding the jeep turned their heads toward him at instant. They stared at him without even blinking. Hakkai sensed the pressure around him and chuckled nervously. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked innocently.

Gojyo sighed out a deep breath and leaned lazily against the jeep. He stared upon the clear blue sky. The day is bright, yet his mind wasn't. His was rather dull. Even the saru didn't make any effort to start a fight and even if the kid did, he was sure he was in no mood for a bickering. 

Sanzo frowned at Hakkai's last remark. He turned his gaze back to where it last cast. He hung his head low and looked down to his laps. There's nothing interesting about it but he's been staring at it all day long. From somewhere down his throat, Sanzo let out a heavy sigh. The wind blew softly, making the strands of hair as gold as the sun swayed freely over his face. He closed his eyes and tried to convince himself to sleep. 

The youngest member of their ikkou however seemed to be in deep thoughts. He didn't mumbled about being hungry or complaining to Hakkai about the journey being too far. Goku just sat silently at the back without any attempt to blow the steam off the red haired man's head or the guardian of his at the front seat. 

"Daijoubu desuka minna-san?" Hakkai asked, rather worried of his comrades' unusual behaviors. He glanced up to the rear-view mirror and studied the faces of the two passengers at the back before turning his emerald eyes to the man next to him. After a moment of total silence, Hakkai rolled his eyes over the road again. He smiled knowingly. He got the answer for his question.

"You guys missed them don't you?" Hakkai asked in glee. 

The reply came out just as he expected. 

"Who would miss that stupid boy and his sister?" that one came out from Gojyo's mouth.

"Ch!" was the reply from the blonde next to him. 

"I want to meet them again!!!" the cry belonged to Goku.

"Yare…yare desune" was all that he could say. 

"Hakkai?" Goku called out softly, the voice of an innocent child rang along with his words. Hakkai raised his brows, waiting for the next phrase. "Don't you miss them?" the kid asked, more of curiosity.

"The question is…" Gojyo added in. "Do you miss her?" he continued then. 

Hakkai giggled. What to answer? It's being month since Aiko and Kazo left and they heard nothing from them anymore. And did he miss her? To hell he didn't. He even feared that they might not meet the pair again. There's no single day passed without him thinking and praying for her. There were no empty spaces on his mind without images of her delicate face. Every moment was passed with him admiring her gracefulness, her smile, her laughter, her words and her loving heart. His skin never forgets the feeling of tenderness from her touch, so soft and warm. Hakkai's smile faded away for a moment but came back later.

"We'll meet them again for sure" said Hakkai, assuring the thing he was not even sure of the confirmation. "They promised right?" he reminded, smiling widely. 'We have to meet… she promised and I promised'. A slight curl appeared on his lips.

Goku felt a sharp feeling of enlightenment when his mind reflected the promise made by Aiko. He yelped in joy at remembering that. "Yukata! We'll meet them again… after all Hakkai had made a promise to Aiko and she would definitely comes back and demand for you to keep your promise" what he had said was the first to make sense to the kappa and the monk.

Gojyo turned around to Hakkai. He stared to the back of the driver. "By the way Hakkai… what is the promise you made to Aiko?" Gojyo asked, quite annoyed at the fact that Hakkai refused to tell him. "You never tell us about your promise?" he added. He had tried convincing Hakkai to reveal the promise but no, Hakkai resisted. 

"And just what make you think I will tell you when I kept it to myself since a month ago?" Hakkai asked in a merry tone. 

"Ch!" Gojyo pouted. "Hakkai, you can be mean sometime" he mumbled. 

Hakkai grinned. He looked up, the sight of the new town had appeared at the horizon and the sun just happened to set away. "We're almost there minna-san…" he declared, a usual task he imposed to himself every time their destination was in view. 

"Hakkai… hayaku!" urged Goku, no doubt due to his appetite and hunger. There's a deep grumbled came out from his churned stomach.

"Hai hai!" Hakkai chuckled edgily as he stepped on the gas pedal and sped the jeep away into the direction of the town in view. They got closer and closer, less aware of the danger that awaited them in the town. 

The jeep, transformation of a little white dragon almost entered the town's gate when an unknown figure dashed side by side with them in a lightning fast speed and halted right before them. Hakkai stepped on the brake at instant, trying to prevent hard collision of the jeep with the unidentified vehicle. The tires screeched furiously and the screeches sent the dust from the dry land beneath them soaring in their sight, blurring the image of the unknown vehicle. Jippu halted just in time, right before he collided with the vehicle. 

"Nanda?!" Goku let out an alarming yelp as he summoned his nyibou, getting ready for any assault. He stood and held his staff in parry. Gojyo on the other hand summoned his shaku jou. Both of the kappa and the itan jumped off the jeep and stood in a fighting mode. 

Sanzo slammed a new barrel of bullets in his Smith and Wesson and cocked it expertly. He pointed the deadly spirit-ascending gun to the direction of the vehicle, which was hidden beyond the arousing dust.

Hakkai gripped the steering wheel. 'I knew this feeling'. His heart raced and his palms turned sweaty. He narrowed his eyes as the dust slowly descended back to the ground, revealing the vehicle and the figure sitting on it. 

Both nyibou and shaku jou disappeared in a blink, leaving the owners gawking at the figure stood before them. Even shoureijuu was lowered down. Emerald, amethyst, golden and crimson met sapphire. 

A thin smile was drawn on Hakkai's lips as he uttered a silent word. The promise will be kept. 

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"Aiko!!!" Goku shouted in joy as he leapt and darted toward the girl on the bike. 

The girl opened her arms wide for the boy to rush in. Goku rushed into Aiko's arms and wrapped the girl's waist with his skinny arms. He laughed heartily and almost cried out of happiness. 

"Goku… you had kept your promise I see…" Aiko whispered softly, almost sounded like a mother putting her baby to sleep. She glanced at the three men and the jeep and looked down to the spiky haired boy in her embrace. Aiko put one hand on the boy's head and ruffled the brown hair lovingly. The boy giggled in glee. "You took care of the men for me"

Goku looked up to Aiko and grinned. "I missed you so much ne…" he sobbed, wiping the first pearly drop trickling down from his eyelid and struggled to prevent another.

Aiko smiled. "Yare…yare… I promised that we'd meet again don't we?" Aiko let go off her embrace upon the boy's shoulders and wiped Goku's tears. She took off her goggles and her helmet, revealing the long black hair that seemed to shine glamorously under the ray of violet and orange emerged from the horizon and stretched out to the farthest skyline.

"Kyu…?" the soft coo came from somewhere under the engine of the Harley Davidson and was replied by another loving and soothing coo from under the hud of the jeep. Hakkai and Sanzo disembark the jeep.

Hakkai smiled. Harkuryuu never have forgotten Nimmiku. 

Aiko looked up to Sanzo. "Yukata! Seems like my Sanzo-nii-chan was all safe and sound" she teased the blond monk, making the latter produced a harsh humph as numerous veins popped out on his forehead. He took out his harisen and was about to whack the girl's head when the latter surprisingly presented him a soft peck on the cheek. The harisen sled away from his grip and fell to the ground. 

Aiko bent down and picked up the harisen. She waved it frantically in front of Sanzo and the latter grabbed it hastily. He shoved the harisen back in his sleeve and cursed annoyingly.

Aiko smiled, then she turned to look at the driver. "Hakkai?" she called out, soft but lovingly. There's a blush on her cheeks. How could she stay calm at remembering Hakkai's last word to her? Aiko turned the other way around as she lost out the word she wanted to say to the dark haired man. 

Suddenly, the man reached out a hand and grabbed her slender shoulder. With a deft movement of his palm, Hakkai forced the girl to turn to him again. He enclosed the girl into his arms, gathered her to his torso and pressed his lips on her cheek. "Remember the promise?" he whispered to her ear as she blanked off completely, drinking away the ecstasy in the warmth of his body. The girl nodded without she herself aware of what she just did. 

Aiko snapped her eyes opened as her soul awakened from the feeling of total blankness as she sank into Hakkai's hug. She set herself free from Hakkai's arms and looked at the man right at his face. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked in a high tone, almost sounded angry. Her face flushed red, and Hakkai could not differentiate if it's out of embarrassment or anger. She shoved herself off Hakkai's hold and stepped out from the man's reach.

Hakkai was perplexed. Even Goku, Sanzo and Gojyo stood dumbfounded. 

"I… I….I just…" Hakkai stammered. 'What he did wrong that caused her to react that way?'

Aiko shook her head and crossed her arms before her chest. "What do you think you're doing going into that town without proper protection?" she flung one arm and pointed into the direction of the town at the horizon. 

Hakkai sweat dropped. 'And I thought it was me she was mad of' 

"What do you mean?" Gojyo asked, quite astounded at the girl's words. 

Aiko leaned against Jippu and shook her head in disbelief. "You don't know huh?" she asked, making the men and the kid wondered even more. "Why are you going there anyway?" she demanded an explanation, looking at the ikkou with sharp, piercing glare. 

"We heard a rumor that a Sanzo had entered the town and never came out… so we thought that his kyuomou might still be there" Hakkai was the one doing the explaining task. He always did. 

"I've heard of that… and it was true that he never came out… any man wouldn't, and I doubted that the kyuomou was still there" she said, glancing to the town, which view was fading away into darkness. The earth seemed to muffle in silence.

"We still have to make sure that the sutra didn't remained in there" Sanzo said, then he flicked his cigarette lighter and lit his cigarette which stuck out of his mouth. 

"And what do you mean that any men wouldn't came out of the town once they entered it?" asked Goku, naively.

Aiko sighed. "I'll tell you later… now you come with me to my uncle's house" she ordered. "If you still want to enter the town then you better come with me" Aiko hopped onto her bike and put on her helmet. She looked down to Goku. 

"Goku, would you like to ride with me?" 

The offer made Gojyo's head turned abruptly to the bike and the girl. Now he realized what was missing. The sight of Goku riding at Aiko's back on the bike made his heart pumped viciously.

"Aiko?" he called out.

Aiko looked at Gojyo as she helped Goku to fasten his helmet.

"Where's Kazo?" Gojyo asked, making Aiko's lips clamped shut. The reaction from the girl made Gojyo got even more worried. "Is he all right?" Gojyo's voice contained a slight tremble. 

"Aiko? Had something happened to Kazo?" Goku tugged at Aiko's sleeve. His eyes turned dreary.

Aiko sighed. "Come with me and I'll show you" she said as she switched on the ignition and swirled the handle, producing a loud vroom as she did so. Aiko stepped on the accelerator pedal and the bike was turned the other way around before sledding smoothly to the direction of a hill on the south. The green jeep followed closely behind.

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Hakkai switched off the ignition and altogether they disembarked the jeep. Hakkai glanced over the building stood before their eyes. A moment ago they entered a gate that surrounded a huge orchard and farm and now they halted just right in front of a huge wooden bungalow with beautiful garden and serene pond as the backdrop. Far away, a magnificent lake and a lush forest fell over the valley down the hill.

"Sugoi!!!" Goku exclaimed as soon as he hoped down the bike. Aiko reached out a hand under his chin and undo the safety belt on his helmet. The girl took off the helmet on his head and his spiky brown hair poked out of it at instant. Aiko gave him a ruffle on his hair with a smile on her face. 

Gojyo rolled his eyes over the bungalow and whistled. He was amazed by the look of it. Suddenly, out of nowhere a group of little children popped out from the entrance and rushed toward them. Gojyo's eyes widened at seeing the kids swarming upon them like bees on their hive. 

"Rei-nee-chan!!!" the kids, young girls and boys around one to five years old, youkai, hanyou and human darted toward Aiko. They opened their arms wide and wrapped Aiko in their embrace. 

Aiko laughed in glee. She accepted each of the hugs and returned it with a kiss on each kids' cheeks. Some of the kids stared at Hakkai, Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku and each of the men gave out different reactions. 

Hakkai happily ruffled the kids' hair and introduced himself to them. Goku on the other hand shook hand merrily with every of the kids. Sanzo, who always find kids annoying tried hard to shove a pair of kids off his robe. The kids' lips trembled and their eyes turned dreary at sudden, making Sanzo grunted. He searched for something from inside his robe and took out two meat buns that he had been saving for Goku in case that saru fell off due to hunger. He handed the portions to the little boys and ceased their attempts of crying. 

"Kono gakis…let go off my hair!" Gojyo strove hard to get rid a bunch of kids who tugged at his red fringes. 

Aiko looked up to the men and laughed. At that precise moment, a bell rang out of nowhere. Aiko turned her gaze toward the bungalow and then looked back at the kids. "Kids… it's lunch time!" she announced as she clapped her hands.

The kids stammered and looked back to the bungalow. The bell gave out another ring. They shouted happily and dashed toward the bungalow. Tiny feet made a soft stomping sound as they skipped and hopped on the ground and then on the wooden verandah. 

Aiko smiled as she watched the kids entered the bungalow. Then, she turned back to the ikkou and addressed them with even a wider smile. "Gomen nasai…" she bowed her head slightly. "The kids barely meet any strangers before" Aiko explained. 

"Who are they?" Gojyo asked as he combed his hair to the back, straightening the strands to its place. 

"They are orphans who had being abandoned by their family… my uncle took them off the streets and kept them here" Aiko watched as Nimmiku transformed to its dragon's form and so did Harkuryuu. The dragons flew to a bench and perched on it. They snuggled each other lovingly and cooed softly. Aiko lips curled. "He took care of them… feed them, educate them, love them…" she added. 

"Sou ka…" Hakkai nodded. "So…this place is most likely an orphanage?" 

"Hai!" Aiko shook her head back and forth. "Ikkuzo…" she said as she started walking into the bungalow. The men followed closely behind her.

Aiko was the first to enter the house and each of the men tailed her. "Ojisan!" the girl called out as soon as she stepped in the house. 

The ikkou glanced around the inside of the bungalow. Everything was arranged neatly. On their side, they could hear a humming sound that filled the air with harmonious tone. Gojyo stretched his neck and peeked into the room next to the entrance. 

The kids that they met outside sat around a long table, clasping their hands together and reciting their prayers before their meal. The kids looked innocent and sweet as their tiny lips murmured the prayers softly. Their eyes were clamped shut and they prayed heartily. Some boys, being naughty as they were supposed to be, opened one eyes and peeked at their meals. When a maid, probably their keeper gave out an alarming cough, they closed their eyes again.

Gojyo smiled. What a peaceful sight… He could have sworn that the sight he's seeing was the most serene sight he ever witnessed since they started their journey west. The kids almost looked like little angels, so innocent and so pure. They were mixed up with youkais, hanyous, and humans, but yet there were no hatred flashed before their multi-colored eyes. His eyes widened even more at seeing some of the girls, youkais, hanyous and humans prayed together hand in hand. 

The little youkais, he just realized, didn't wear any yoryouku limiter. "Aiko… the youkai kids… don't they have to wear a limiter?" Gojyo asked. 

"Nain… the minus wave didn't affect this place since it was protected by a large energy barrier cast by my uncle" Aiko explained as she pointed one hand out of the door. Now only they realized that they had entered a huge blue energy barrier that almost matched the color of the nature around them. 

 "Then… your uncle, he's a…" Goku didn't finish his words as they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. A tall broad figure advanced into their sights, appearing clearer and clearer as he descended all the way down the stairs. 

"Reika…?" the husky voice of the figure's popped out from his mouth as he stood before them. 

"Kei-jisan" Aiko addressed him and walked to his side. The girl wrapped her arms around the man's waist and smiled merrily. She almost looked like a little girl clinging to her father's waist. Aiko looked at the men. "Minna-san… let me introduce you to my ojisan" she said.

"This is Kei-jisan, Kazo's mother's elder brother" she introduced them to the broad shouldered man. "And Kei-jisan… these are the men I've told you before" Aiko said as she held out a hand, pointing toward the ikkou.

Kei was a tall and broad shouldered youkai. He's bold for a man at his age. His cooper colored hair was lined with several strands of white. Yet he was neat and sturdy. His hazel eyes gleamed with courage and strength and his complexion was tanned, symbolizing masculinity of his inner self. 

"Nice to meet you Kei-san" Hakkai reached out a hand with a smile flickered upon his fair face.

"Let me guess… this is Hakkai" Kei exclaimed as he shook the hand of the dark haired man. He looked at Aiko from the corner of his eyes and smiled knowingly. The young man stood before him resembled a lot to Aiko's fiancé, Leon. "Reika told me a lot about you"

"Yare…yare…" Hakkai chuckled nervously, a hand at the back of his head. He looked at Aiko and the girl just smiled sweetly.  

"And this one must be Son Goku?" Kei looked down to Goku and ruffled the boy's hair. Now he knew why Aiko adored the kid so much. The kid looked as genki as Kazo and the other kids in the house. The innocence was clearly shown upon the golden orbs on the boy's face.

"Hai!" Goku chirped merrily. He bowed and grinned widely. "Kei-ji-chan… do you have any food? Hata harahetta ne" he whined, clutching to his stomach as he did so. His face was distorted and he bent down in a curl, preventing the grumbling noise in his tummy.

The ikkou's eyes bewildered. Hakkai sweat dropped and muttered his 'yare-yare-desune', followed by Gojyo who slapped his head in disbelief and the end was a whack on Goku's head from Sanzo's harisen. 

"Ittai…" Goku clutched his head as soon as the harisen was lifted off. 

Kei burst out laughing. Now, the scene that Aiko had told him happened everyday during her journey with the ikkou occurred before his very eyes. 

"And you must be Genjo Sanzo…or Reika's Koryuu" Kei looked at Sanzo. 

Sanzo bowed his head slightly. He sent a deadly glare to Aiko and the latter gulped nervously. She knew she had forgotten something about warning Kei not to mention the name Koryuu in front of the owner himself. 

"And you are Sha Gojyo" Kei shook hands with the red headed man and the latter nodded affirmatively. 

"How are the kids?" Aiko asked Kei. 

"They are getting worst by each minutes… have you got the plant that I asked you to get from Okadia?" he asked, his face changed abruptly, from a plain look to a worried expression.  

Aiko shook her head in some sort of disappointment. "I was on my way when I met these guys halfway ahead… they were on their way to Okadia without any protection that I was forced to stop them" she answered as she glanced over the ikkou. "I could not let them enter Okadia with this appearance" she added, looking back at Kei with pleading look. 

The ikkou was astounded with that remark. 'What was in that town Okadia that caused her to cancel her mission and brought them here?'

Kei observed the young men. His eyes rolled over them and suddenly he nodded in agreement. He rubbed his chin and looked at Sanzo.

"Why are you going there anyway?" he asked.

"We're in search of the four missing sutras and we heard a rumor that one of them was hidden somewhere in the town" Sanzo explained. It was unusual of him to do the explaining but then he could not ignore an older man's inquiry. 

"Have you got any idea about the condition in the town?" Kei asked again and now his question was pointed randomly.

"We're afraid not" Hakkai was the one to answer. 

Kei shook his head in disbelief. "You're lucky enough that Reika had stopped you before you enter the town" he said. He turned his attention at Aiko. "Never mind my dear… You are ought to try again tomorrow… now take these men and explain to them" he patted her shoulder and pointed her chin upstairs. 

"And now will you please excuse me for I got something to do… We'll meet again at lunch and until that please make yourself at home" Kei asked to leave.

The ikkou bowed their heads slightly and the bold youkai left them. 

Aiko clasped her hands and sighed. She looked at the ikkou and made a hand gesture, signaling them to follow her up the stairs. They mounted the stairs and headed for the second floor. 

"Aiko… what did your Kei-san means when he said we're lucky that you'd stopped us before we could enter the town?" Hakkai asked as he hastened his pace until he was walking side by side with Aiko. 

"I'll explain to you at lunch" Aiko said. At hearing the word 'lunch', Goku yelped and almost tripped over the stairs. Lucky for him, Aiko had turned around and caught him by his collar. She pulled him upright then. 

They were now at the head of the stairs. Aiko walked straight and then halted before a closed door. 

"Where's Kazo? I don't see him around?" Gojyo couldn't keep it any longer. He was worried all over that he could not stop himself from asking. 

Aiko gulped. She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it. The raven black haired girl pushed the door softly, lessening the creaking sound as she did so. Aiko entered the room, followed by the ikkou. 

As soon as they stepped in, the odor of herbs and medicine struck to their nose. It was the same smell as the one you would usually found in a medicine man's office. They followed the girl as she walked across the room toward a bed, which curtains were loosely dropped. 

The girl stood before the bed. The ikkou halted right behind her. They waited patiently as the girl unveiled the bed and tied the curtains around it. Someone crouched on the bed, curling with his knees hugged before his chest. He almost looked like a baby in a mother's womb. 

Gojyo's heart pounded hastily as he recognized the red crimson head that popped out off the blanket. He sweated all over when the boy opened his eyelids and revealed a pair of gloomy yet fiery red eyes. 

"Kazo?" he swallowed the word painfully.

To be continue….

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Ayie: Yare…yare… I don't know if this sequel will turn out to be as long as the first one… Hope not. I intended to make this one shorter than "Surviving Life". After all, I don't have much time to upload it since I don't have my own connection to the Internet… lucky that still have my own computer… if not it's possible for me to even type this fic… -___-+…

Sanzo: I wish you won't even have any time to type it then I don't have to waste my time helping you write the fic. 

Ayie: Nani?! strangled Sanzo as the latter fought back… and they descended to the floor, fighting teeth and nails

Hakkai: Will someone help me with cleaning the room? sweeping cobwebs in Ayie's new room at the hostel

Aiko: I will…took out a damp cloth and swept the window

Goku: coughed as he dusted Ayie's study table Hata harahetta ne…     Kazo: We've got less to eat since the canteen was far away from this house…I'm going to die soon.

Gojyo: But I loved this place… there's a lot of chicks around…leered at a passing girl student and whistled

  
  



	2. A plan!

Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie. 

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Ayie: Well…thanks GS-chan and Arista Niara for having reviewed the last chap. And gomen for taking a long…make it very long time, to upload this new chap. I was going crazy with all the assignments and classes that I hardly have time to write the fic. Lucky for me I got my own computer…or else… I might have to retire from FFNet for one whole semester…Yare yare desune! But don't worry as long as I'm alive this fic will continue…unless of course, it's the end ^__^

Hakkai: Well…we would like to thank GS-chan and Sk8er boi for having helped keeping ayie-san's feet back on the ground.             Aiko: Hai! A week ago, we really think she's going mad…and would decide to flee off from college…

Sanzo: Her parents had appointed me to take care of her and make sure she'll never give up…I promised them I'll whack her head if she ever think of fleeing away. harisen's ready in hand

Gojyo: Ah! No way I'm letting her go back to the peninsular…I'll kill her if she did. There were lots of pretty girls here and to hell I would want to leave this place.

Ayie: Oi urusei will ya? I'm keeping you illegal in here…if someone heard you, I might get kicked off as well…smacked Gojyo's head with her bag

Goku and Kazo: Harahetta….

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**Love Potion no.9 **

Chapter 2

"Kazo?" Gojyo swallowed the word painfully.

The hanyou looked down to the bed and his gaze fell on the boy lying on it. The red fiery eyes of the boy reflected great pain and suffer, but yet it still gleamed with happiness at seeing the figures stood next to him. His paled lips uttered a silent word and curled up slightly. It seemed like smiling was a lot of pain to him when he flinched and the smile quickly faded away. The crimson red hair that used to be spiky was glued to his skull by the cold sweats. The once red rosy cheeks of his had turned out pale blue

Kazo tried to say something but what escaped from his mouth was a slow hiss. He gulped painfully and turned his gaze away with tears trickling down his cheeks. The young hanyou was no doubt disappointed of his disability to greet the ikkou, which he had missed for so long. 

Aiko wiped the tears and caressed Kazo's head, sweeping away the sweats as she did so. The boy looked at her. She returned the pathetic look with a smile. Kazo once again faced the ikkou. 

"I'm happy to see you again" the words were whispered away with slight hiss in between them. Kazo winced at the stabbing pain in his chest as soon as he finished uttering the remark. He groaned and stirred restlessly. This time the pain was so reluctant to go away. Kazo bit his lips and struggled hard to hold back the pain. 

"Kazo…" Goku's voice trembled. He hopped onto the bedside and held Kazo's head. The latter's head burned furiously. It was so hot that Goku abruptly yanked his hand away. The young itan looked up to Aiko. "Aiko…what happened to him?" he started to get solemn. His eyes turned dreary and his body shook with sadness.

Sanzo and Hakkai studied Kazo's face. They didn't have to hear the story to know the boy was terribly sick. And from his condition, it was possible he's dying. 

Gojyo was struck with grieve. He expected to meet the boy in his genki self, not in this condition where he was not able to even smile. The red headed sunk to Kazo's bedside. He looked at Aiko and his eyes sent the message that he demanded an explanation of the real situation. 

Aiko lowered her eyes and turned away from Goku and Gojyo's gaze. Even Hakkai and Sanzo waited for her to explain everything. She was about to open her mouth when Kazo gave away a loud heart rending cry. The pain struck him and this time it was accompanied with a tremendous convulsion of his body. The boy gritted his teeth, tried to bear the pain with all his strength. His gripped the pillow underneath his head until his knuckle turned white.

"Kazo! Hold on kiddo!" Gojyo urged the boy as he cradled Kazo's head on one arm. The kid convulsed violently and the scream got louder each time it occurred. Goku hopped down the bed and slowly backed away. There was a sense of fear on his face. The young itan tugged at his caretaker's robe and clung at it without any word spoken.

Sanzo glanced down to Goku. The kid looked terribly frightened. He would have sworn that he never saw that much of fear on Goku's face before. The saru's face turned white and sweaty as if he too could feel Kazo's pain. Sanzo turned his gaze back at the wailing boy and looked at Aiko. 

"Aiko…why don't you do something?" Sanzo asked, fuming at seeing Aiko sitting down by the bedside doing nothing to help ease her brother's pain. 

"Do what?!" Aiko snapped back. She looked up to Sanzo with a face as pale as Kazo's. There's a smear of tears on the side of her eyes. "Neither my ki nor any medicine could ease the pain!" she cried, almost shouting and suddenly hung her head low. 

"What do you mean?" Hakkai asked. He rushed to Kazo's bedside and tried to heal the young hanyou's pain with his ki. The green beam flowed from his palm and covered Kazo's forehead but then it did nothing. The ki didn't work a bit.

"It's useless" Aiko pointed out when Hakkai retreated his hand with shock expression on his face.

"I've tried using a ki before but the pain never cease" said Aiko as she caressed Kazo's head. Her hand trembled with cold. "It just worsened the pain" she explained.  

Gojyo fell silent at hearing the remark. He looked down to Kazo and suddenly lifted the boy in his arms. He nestled the boy in his cradle and hugged him tightly. The kappa sunk his face to Kazo's hair and rocked his body back and forth, as if he's putting the young hanyou to sleep. 

"Gojyo?" Aiko stammered at Gojyo's act. She never expected that kappa to do that. Aiko knew that kind of tenderness would usually come from Hakkai… but from the half-breed man, it's almost a dream. 

Gojyo didn't look up. He just kept quiet and still. Suddenly, the boy in his arms stopped crying and convulsing. His pain seemed to go away as soon as he settled in Gojyo's cradle. Gojyo stopped rocking his body and stared down to the boy's face. Kazo had fallen asleep with his hands still clinging to Gojyo's shirt. 

Sanzo, Hakkai, Aiko and Goku gawped at the scene. They could not believe their eyes. Gojyo had actually stopped Kazo's pain and put the boy to a rest in his sleep? Even Hakkai was surprised. He knew Gojyo liked children but he never knew Gojyo had so much affection towards Kazo. 

"Gojyo…" Aiko tried to reach for Kazo but Gojyo lifted up his face and gave Aiko a look that made the girl retreated her hand. She looked straight into the crimson eyes of the kappa and nodded silently. "Very well then… feel free to join us at the dining hall downstairs if you are hungry" she said as she rose up from the bedside and backed away slowly. She stood by Hakkai's side. 

"Let's have our lunch" Aiko chirped merrily as she looked at Hakkai and soon grabbed Goku's hand into her own. She coaxed the boy through the door and then walked out of the room. Sanzo and Hakkai followed her a little later.

Hakkai closed the door softly behind him. Still, he stole a glance and peeked inside the room trough the shutting door. Gojyo was in the exact same position. Serenity fell upon his friend's face. Hakkai let out a slight smile as he pulled the door closed firmly. 

"Aiko?" Sanzo stared at the girl whose back was facing him. She still held Goku's hand in hers. Hakkai walked to Sanzo's side and joined the monk in studying the girl's back. Hakkai knew well that Aiko tried to hold back her fear of losing someone she loved so much and he knew Sanzo knew that too. 

"You don't have to keep it inside you know?" Hakkai said faintly. He knew nothing could be said to please the girl's disturbed mind. A slight mistake would only make Aiko crashed down at instant. 

"I won't lose him" Aiko uttered, almost whispering. She turned her head and smiled to the blonde monk and the dark-haired man. Then she gazed down to Goku. "We won't lose him Goku…don't you worry" she assured as she ruffled Goku's hair.

The affirmative tone in Aiko's voice and the confidence in her eyes made Goku's hope revived. He nodded eagerly and smiled heartily. Aiko sighed with relief. At least that smile gave her a peace of mind. The exhaustion faded away at instant at seeing the smile again. 

"Let's go and get you your meal" Aiko pushed the boy's back softly and made him walk towards the stairs. 

"Yay!!" Goku shouted happily as he descended the stairs, skipping and jumping playfully. 

Hakkai smiled at seeing Goku but then his smile disappeared as his eyes met Aiko's sapphire. Although the girl tried to hide her sadness and fear underneath the fake smile, her attempt was proven futile since the negative feeling was clearly shown in her eyes. Eyes couldn't lie and that's what made her smile meaningless, at least not to the kids. 

"Anou…ikimaska?" Aiko asked. She tilted her head to one side and smiled again. Aiko almost looked like a ten year old who tried to plead her parents to buy her a bunny doll. Sanzo grunted. That face reminded her of young Reika, so naïve and silly, but yet so sweet. 

Hakkai held out one arm and let Aiko slid hers upon it. He smiled, at least to keep her mind at peace, and headed towards the stairs. The monk quietly tailed them. 

*************************** 

"You mean almost half of the kids were sick from this disease called 'red death'?" Hakkai asked Aiko, who stood next to him, pouring the limejuice inside his glass. The girl nodded, making the strands of raven black shook aimlessly with her head. The strands flailed back and forth softly.

"We were assigned to look after the kids as soon as we got here but unfortunately, Kazo's immune tend to be weak at that time since he's having a flu" Aiko explained. She scooped out a cup of ice cream and handed it to Goku. Goku received the treat with a merry 'sankyu na'. The boy hastily gobbled up the desert. 

"He was inflicted with the disease after a couple of days and because of his flu… the disease seemed to give him the worst effect than the other kids" Aiko handed a glass of limejuice to Sanzo but the monk politely turned it down with a slight movement of his hand. "The kids will die in a couple of days if we couldn't find the cure" she put the glass back into the trail.

Aiko made her way towards the fireplace and settled herself on a couch. Sanzo and Hakkai joined her and gathered around her. Sanzo sunk himself into an armchair and anchored his head with one hand. He stared at the blazing fire in the fireplace. Goku appeared right in front of him as soon as he turned to look at the dining table. The boy sat cross-legged on the carpet down at his feet. Goku was so occupied at finishing his ice cream that he cared less about the conversation among the elders around him. Harkuryuu and Nimmiku on the other hand, helped Goku cleaned himself by licking the smear of ice cream on his cheek. 

Hakkai sat down on the couch next to Aiko. He leant against the comfy couch and sighed. "Have you found the cure?" he asked as he threw himself upwards and looked at Aiko's face.

Aiko nodded. "The only cure was the water from the ancient well in Okadia… I was on my way to get the water when I found you" Aiko gazed at the fireplace and studied the flame that blazed furiously, burning the firewood to ashes. The air was a little bit still. No other sound was available except the crackling sound of the fire burning the stack of firewood in the fireplace.

"A cure from the water of a well? What's so special about this well anyway?" asked Sanzo, superstition didn't get so well with his ideology. 

"It supposed to be a sacred well of Okadia's townsfolk… red death was first found in Okadia and the only way to cure it is to drink the water from the well" Aiko explained. "I don't know why the water turned out to be a curing aid…but it was said that five hundreds years ago, Goddess of Love had laid her hands upon the well and shed her tears into its water" she scratched her head with confusion.

"Goddess of Love?" Hakkai had heard the name being mentioned before but it was long ago, before Kannan died.

"It was the goddess that made people believed a kiss could cure everything" Goku explained briefly. "That's why your kiss had cured Aiko… am I right Sanzo?" Goku looked at Sanzo, proud of his statement.

"Ch! Baka!" Sanzo murmured. He was in no mood to whack the boy's head right now, so he guessed he owed the kid one. 

"She was said to grieve and to weep upon her fate at the very well… I think that megumi-sama didn't really enjoyed her post as Goddess of Love" she sunk into the warmth of the couch and closed her eyes, tried to give her tangling mind a rest. "I'm going back there again tomorrow" 

"I'm going with you" a voice penetrated the air as a figure advanced into view. He appeared from behind the door and leaned lazily against it. The man combed his crimson hair to the back.

"If you insist…" Aiko smiled as she snapped her eyes opened. 

"Yare yare… looks like we don't have any choice other than going ne Sanzo?" Hakkai smiled merrily and that made the monk surrendered into approval. 

Aiko pushed herself upwards. "But you must know that the town was not fond of receiving a male visitors" Aiko warned. 

Gojyo made his way to the fireplace and joined Goku on the carpet. He lied down on his side and propped on one elbow. The half-breed flicked a cigarette in between his lips and lit it. As he inhaled, the tip of the cigarette gleamed with yellowish orange light. 

"What do you mean they don't accept male visitors?" asked Gojyo, rather confused with the remark. Sanzo turned his head, glanced away from the fireplace and fixed his gaze at Aiko. 

"They'll kill any male who entered the town" Aiko said, without answering the kappa's question. 

"Why is that?" Gojyo's cigarette almost fell down and burnt the carpet before he hastily tossed it away into the fireplace. 

"They are all females" 

***************************** 

The ikkou jaw dropped at hearing the answers. "NANI?!!!" was the word that escaped their mouth. 

Aiko smiled. She had expected that kind of respond. The sapphire-eyed girl raised her shoulders and chuckled slightly. "I know that sounds weird but the townspeople were all females… no male including the animals" she explained. "Any male who went into their town will be slaughtered to merciless death" she put one finger under her chin and made a slashing mode across the neck. 

"Erk?!" Goku held hid neck with both hands and gulped nervously. "Nande yo?" he asked, rather perplexed.

"Ch! They are only women… wait till they meet a man like me" Gojyo brushed his hair to the back, the remark of his hentai self. 

Aiko shrugged. "I'm a woman and do you think I'm weak?" she asked with a raging tone. It was clear that she's not very fond of woman being claimed as 'only women'.

Gojyo raised his brows. 'Okay…I'm wrong'. He had no doubt that Aiko was not 'only women'; she was far from 'only women'. 

"The people of Okadia were all fighters, some were as best as you are" Aiko explained, rather sarcastically. She glared at Gojyo from the corner of her eyes. "If you ever intend to sleep with them…well, think again… any man who had slept with them, woke up dead the day after" 

Gojyo sweat dropped. 'Well…better forget about seducing them right away'

Sanzo smirked at hearing Aiko's words. Finally the kappa will suffer of hunger for love. "Hope you'll survive kappa" he said devilishly. 

"K'so!" Gojyo pouted. 'Damn this mister worldly monk!'

"Well…if there were no men…" Hakkai's brows connected as his forehead twitched. "How do the people in Okadia managed to last for centuries?" the emerald-eyed man looked a little bit confused. 

"Do you mean how they keep their generations last?" Aiko asked and the latter man nodded. "Well…there's another town about two miles from Okadia which its townspeople were all men" she said, grinning menacingly. 

The ikkou jaw dropped for the second time. 

"This town called Keioka… and it takes about three hours to get there by foot" Aiko explained. "Keioka and Okadia's people were actually from the same town called Keiokadia…something that happened in the past that caused them to separate themselves into two town" she studied the distorted faces in front of her. 

"And let me guess… this townspeople of Keioka would never tolerate to any female visitors?" Sanzo made a wild guess as he looked at his 'sister's' face.

The girl nodded in approval. "Once in a full moon… the men from Keioka would come into the town of Okadia and sleep with their partners" Aiko's face showed disgust and hatred. "Each of them were actually married…if the future offspring was a girl, she will be left at Okadia and if it's the other way around, the father would take him away to Keioka" she would never understand why there could be such insanity of having to part away a married couple from each other or any infants from any of its parents. 

"What a nonsense?!" Hakkai looked outraged even though his face didn't suggest it. During Aiko's storytelling, his smile never appeared into view. That suggested that he was not fond of the story he's listening to. 

"That was the only time any male were allowed to enter the town…if any of Keioka's men come to the town other than that time, they will be slaughtered to death by their own partners, sisters or parents" Aiko added with a fuming tone in her delicate voice. "The men must came at the time said and left when the first horn being blown or else…" Aiko didn't finish the last sentence but the ikkou would have guessed it right. 

"You mean… a mother would kill his own son, a sister killed her own brother, a wife murdered her husband if he came in the town other than that night?" Gojyo asked bewilderedly. 

Aiko nodded frantically. Her answer made the ikkou frowned with disgust. "And it was the other way around in Keioka… it was a sorry since no one can stop them because every one of them were actually innocent, they were just being bind by the old custom and the rules of their king and queen" 

"This remind me of the *Amazon's people in ancient Greek" said Hakkai, reading was his habit and he remembered of having came across the same story from a legend during the ancient Greek period. 

Aiko smiled. "Glad you know… yes, they were the same" she exclaimed in an amusing tone but rather cynical. Hakkai stooped forward and anchored his chin on one fist. He sighed as he shook his head with disbelief. 

"That's why I stopped you from going into the town" Aiko explained of her action before. "It was far from full moon and you cannot outlast a bunch of innocent women who just obliging the rule of their town… you have no choice" she rose up and walked to the fireplace. 

"If the safest time to get in the town was only in full moon night… how are we going to find the sutra and moreover, the cure of the Red Death?" Gojyo inquires the answer as soon as possible. 'Well…it's okay if he could not seduce any of the woman there and lose a great opportunity to quench his thirst for love, but he could not tolerate about not able to get the cure for Kazo'. "I mean… okay the sutra can wait but how about the kids?" he looked at Sanzo with alert for he feared if the shoureijuu would make its appearance as the result of his excuse for the sutra.

Sanzo didn't even grunted for his remark. Gojyo let out a deep breath. 

"He's right" Hakkai agreed with Gojyo. Sometime that kappa knew how to make sense of what he's saying. "If we wait for the next full moon… the kids won't make it till that time" the dark-haired youkai rubbed his temple. Judging on Kazo's condition, he doubted that the hanyou would last till the next couple of days. 

"We got like four days to get the cure" suddenly Kei appeared in the room, wiping his hands with a white towel. He just came out from the quarantine room, where they kept the sick children to be treated and to be quarantined from the other healthy kids. The bold youkai spent his time around the clock in the room, treating the kids and looking for the remedy to alleviate the pain. "A little more time than that will cost us their lives" Kei sank himself to the couch next to Sanzo. 

"There must be a way of how we can get into the town unnoticed?" Goku looked at Aiko and Kei. "We can't let Kazo dies" there's a tremble in his voice as he uttered the refusal. He thought they got no way to cure Kazo and he started to fear. 

Aiko kneeled in front of Goku and took the boy into her arms. "Daijoubu da yo Goku… Kazo will be all right" Aiko assured. She had lost Kazo's genki and no way she's risking herself to lose Goku's. "I'm a woman… I can get into the town without being harm"

"Aiko…I've said it that I'm going with you" Gojyo insisted. This is a task he must be involved with. "After all… we can't wait till the next full moon which is in about twelve days… to get the sutra" he really wanted to go and having the risk of being killed by a bunch of anti-male residents was not an excuse for him to break a promise he made to Kazo a moment ago.

Kei shook his head back and forth. "May be you need their assistance Aiko, since the queen of Okadia would never tolerate any strangers who came near the sacred well" Kei said as he looked at Aiko.

Hakkai, Sanzo and Gojyo were astonished to hear Kei's suggestion. They abruptly turned their heads toward Aiko. The elders of the ikkou gawped at the girl. 'This girl was risking her own life to get the cure… and now tried to prevent us from risking our lives?'

"But Kei-ji-san…how?" Aiko gave away a worried glance. 

"There's a way for the ikkou to enter the town unnoticed" Kei said as he leant back to the couch. "But it needs a little sacrifice from you boys…" he studied every faces of the young men before him.

The ikkou exchanged glances and turned their gaze to Kei, who smiled meaningfully. That youkai definitely had something playing in his mind. 

To be continue…

****************************** 

*During the ancient Greek, the period of Zeus, there's a myth about a tribe called the Amazon tribe. The tribe consists of women and no men. The Amazon tribe were said to be a great fighter whom no man can defeat them. They were said to be stronger and smarter than a male. Even the great Hercules approved their strength and avoided a fight with any of the Amazon women. Great huh? 

Ayie: Wah! Completed chapter two… I know I got less review from any new readers, but I don't mind since I got my faithful readers here. GS-chan, Fuuei-chan, Arista Niara and sk8er boi… thanks minna-san. Well, I don't think any new readers would ever willing to read the prequel "Surviving Life" since it's a very loooonnggg story…Phew! Any new readers out there…if you ever came across this fic and read it…thanks ne? ^__^

Hakkai: Ayie-san, how are you feeling right now? 

Ayie: Huh?! I'm fine now since I finally tuned myself back into university life after 3 months holidays at home…wei..it's not my fault right for having been at home for months and finally found it difficult to adapt to college life again. It's the damn university's fault!!! bit the draft for Love Potion no.9 furiously Grrr….

Aiko: slapped head in disbelief She's still mad about coming back here…

Sanzo: At least she had found the best of friends in some of the readers out there and in her new roommate…Ami.

Gojyo: Talking about Ami… do you think she'll ever go out for a date with me?

Ami: Never! Nonsense! Ridiculous! Over my dead body!! Shi—ne!!!

Gojyo: Guess not… hunched shoulder and sweat dropped 

Goku: Served you right kappa! After all…she's a great martial artist…you'll die in her hand if you insisting of her going out with you.         Kazo: BWAHAHA…at seeing Ami kicking Gojyo on the butt   
  
  



	3. A cheongsam and camisole!

Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie. 

******************************** 

Ayie: Ah! I can't believe it… I finally succeeded in drawing a picture of Hakkai and Aiko. I loved the picture and I want to share it with dear readers especially those who were fond of Aiko and Hakkai pairing. I was planning to scan it and publish it on the net. Any idea on where should I publish it? 

Hakkai: Why don't you just e-mail it to those who really want to see how Aiko looked like? I don't mind sharing Aiko's lovely face with those who really love her… but not to any guys!

Aiko: o__O"… Hai hai! Hakkai surely know how to get jealous. 

Goku: Ayie-nee-chan would like to say thanks to all reviewers and readers…she said that she could not believe that there's still someone willing to read Surviving Life…thanks Thowra-chan.                           Kazo: She also said that this fic is going to be a fic with pure love… no *cough * scene….

Ayie: I loved torturing Hakkai and Aiko, and I loved torturing that crazy monk too….HAHAHA! Bad bad me! 

Sanzo: threw the harisen to ayie's head Dameru!! Start writing chapter 3 already!

Aiko: @___@()

***************************** 

**Love Potion no.9 **

Chapter 3

_"There's a way for the ikkou to enter the town unnoticed" Kei said as he leant back to the couch. "But it needs a little sacrifice from you boys…" he studied every faces of the young men before him._

_The ikkou exchanged glances and turned their gaze to Kei, who smiled meaningfully. That youkai definitely had something playing in his mind. _

Judging by the look in his eyes, the ikkou didn't like it much. They could sense something fishy hovering that elder youkai's head. Even Aiko didn't like the look on her uncle's face. She just feared that the plan would cost the ikkou to do something terrible. Deep in her heart, she's praying that the plan would not scratch the men's egos. 

Hakkai looked at Sanzo, waiting for the blonde monk to give a signal that said 'go on with the plan'. Sanzo's eyes met his a moment later and the monk just looked away with a soft humph. Hakkai smiled. That's a yes! If the answer were a no, the blonde wouldn't turn away but glared at him instead. 

"What is it Kei-san? We're willing to make that sacrifice if it can save the kids life" Hakkai said, coaxing the bold youkai to spit out his plan. 

Kei's lips curled slightly as he glanced at the younger men and the girl. The young ones waited anxiously for him to give out the idea. Actually it's a simple idea, anyone could think of it. What an absurd fact that neither of the youngsters came out with the idea? 'May be they were too occupied with their egos and young blood that this kind of idea didn't pop out in their mind'. He laughed silently. 

Sanzo was getting rather impatient with the waiting task. If Kei were someone much younger, he would surely whack him on the head with the harisen. He shifted uneasily on the couch.

Kei sensed the uneasiness in the atmosphere that hovered over his head that he smiled. Young bloods were so anxious and impetuous. They didn't have what the elders had, wisdom and patience. Kei only saw the patience in the dark haired man with the ear-cuff. Hakkai had a lot of patience and wisdom and they were clearly shown from the gleam in his emerald eyes.  

"Well…it's nothing much to do" Kei finally spat his thought. He sneered and suddenly smirked. Aiko's eyes narrowed. She studied the old man's face and snorted. 'He must be kidding'. "You boys just need to dress up as a woman" Kei added and the idea made the ikkou gave out different reactions. 

Gojyo jaw hung loosely, dropping till it met his chest. Goku on the other hand blinked continuously and looked at Sanzo, who's digging his ear furiously, as if to make sure he's hearing the old man right. 

"Arara…" Hakkai's eyes widened with disbelief. 'Wonder why we didn't come out with the idea before?' 

"Aww man! That's ridiculous…!!!" Gojyo opened his mouth and protested. 'I loved woman, but me…as a woman? Argh!!!'

Aiko sweat dropped and shook her head. She sighed heavily. 'Now here we go again… the typical Sanzo ikkou'

"I don't want to wear a skirt" Goku mumbled and stuffed a nikuman into his wide opened mouth. "Eet wo wissii [it's too sissy]" he muttered with his mouth full. Seconds after that, the familiar paper fan thwacked him right at the back of his head. He jerked forcefully forward. 

"Baka saru… how many times do I have to tell you not to talk with your mouth full?" roared Sanzo, his face as red as Gojyo's jaunty crimson locks. Goku hurriedly seek for help from Aiko and the latter offered him her back for his hiding place.

"Ma…ma…Sanzo, you don't have to go if you opposed to the idea" Hakkai said, flailing his hands frantically in front of his face and smiled sarcastically. He looked like as if he's persuading Sanzo to calm down and relax. "I'm sure Kei-san would need a help to look after the sick kids" he continued cynically and looked away from Sanzo. 

The monk dumbfounded. Sanzo's red face changed into rosy color and finally ceased into his usual typical color of the sun. He grunted. It looks like he has no choice from the beginning. He's not fond of dressing up as a woman but it's not his liking either to look after wailing sick kids. 'What's the heck? It's better than sitting all day keeping a sick kid to his bed'. Sanzo sank into the comfy couch and drowned himself into a serious thinking state.

"Ch!" Sanzo gave a forceful answer. "No make-ups" he warned as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and hung his head low. 

"Why not? You'll look great with proper touch-up" Aiko jested the young monk. Abruptly, without she even had the chance to blink, Sanzo lifted up his face and pointed out his shoureijuu into her direction. He pulled the trigger and a bullet came dashing toward her. The silvery bullet missed her cheek by inches and penetrated the mahogany wall behind her. A deep smoky hole appeared on the wall as soon as the bullet made its way into the solid wood. 

Aiko sweat dropped. "Hai…hai…I get the idea" she hissed nervously. Her voice shook. 

"Nani?!" Gojyo gawked at hearing Sanzo's reply. "Sanzo-sama… what had happened to you? Are you sick?" he put a hand onto Sanzo's forehead, checking that the monk was not sick. 

Sanzo's forehead displayed numerous fierce looking veins. He glared at the kappa from the corner of his eyes and reached into his robe. In a fraction of a second, the legendary harisen made its way to Gojyo's temple and the hanyou yelped alarmingly at receiving the brutal bash.

Gojyo pouted as he rubbed his aching temple. A nasty lump emerged under his tanned skin. "I refused of having to dress as a woman" he said stubbornly. He turned around to the door and clamped his mouth at seeing a figure staggering by the door. The red headed man narrowed his crimson eyes and studied the stumbling figure. 

"Kazo?" Gojyo rushed to get the mentioned boy as soon as he realized that it was Kazo stood by the door, staggering and stumbling on his feet. He reached the boy just in time, right before Kazo collapsed to the wooden floor beneath his feet. The young half-breed fell limply into his protective arms. "Daijoubu desuka Kazo?" the elder man asked with concern flickering upon his solemn eyes. 

"Kazo!!!" Aiko, Hakkai and Goku darted to the hanyous. Aiko bent down on her knees and put a hand on Kazo's face. Her brother's face was fiery hot.

Gojyo slapped Kazo's cheek softly, dragging the boy back into consciousness. Kazo forced himself to open his eyes and rolled his eyes over to his side. The crimson orbs were fixed on the worried face looking down to his face, calling out his name continuously. He smiled and uttered "Gojyo…" the smile lasted even until he closed his eyes and fell into an unwilling slumber. 

"Kazo?!" Goku called out worriedly. A soft pat landed on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder and found Hakkai smiling to him. The smile made his heart relaxed. Hakkai would only smile if he thinks the situation can be handled. "Is he okay?" he asked. 

Hakkai shook his head back and forth and gave an assuring smile. "He's sleeping" he explained softly and then looked at Gojyo out of the corner of his eyes. The red haired friend of his still held Kazo in his arms and looking down to the latter's face, Gojyo didn't say a word. The crimson locks covered the view of his face. 

"I'll do it… I'll do whatever it takes to save him" Gojyo whispered softly as he gathered Kazo in his cradle and lifted the boy up. Silently, he walked out of the door and made his way to the staircase. 

Aiko was about to tail Gojyo if not had Hakkai stopped her. The girl turned the other way around and glanced at Hakkai. "Let him be" was the reason from the dark haired man. Aiko heaved a deep breath and turned her gaze to Gojyo, who mounted the staircase with Kazo sleeping in his arms. 

Hakkai smiled. 'Gojyo… the boy reminded you of yourself…am I right my friend?' 

*************************** 

Aiko stood silently in front of a dusty closet. She stared at the white closet embedded with pink flowery design and a slight curl appeared on her peachy lips. The sapphire-eyed girl reached out a hand and swiped the cobweb on the board of the closet. Her hand touched the knob and she carefully twisted it. The tarnished knob creaked noisily as she twisted the handle. Aiko pulled the closet's door and slowly opened it. 

As soon as she opened the door, a strange image hovered around her. She was no more standing in front of a dusty closet but before a new closet instead and she was Reika once more. New clothes hung in the closet and she happily picked out one dress, which she thought would fit her right. 

_"Leya-nee-chan… how do you think about this?" Reika turned around and lifted the dress before her. She posed with the white dress embedded with blue flowers in front of her and waited for her sister's respond. _

_Leya narrowed her eyes and studied her sister, imagining that the girl was wearing the dress. "Nope! It's not suitable" she answered a moment later. _

_"Is it so? Then I'll wear it" Reika replied as she happily put the dress on. Her sister pouted._

_"Then, there's no point of you asking my opinion" Her sister mumbled, quite annoyed of the trouble she had to went through for a couple of hours of helping Reika picking up the right dress for her first date with Leon. Leya smiled. "Hai hai… I never expected my sister would fall in love with any man… alas that man is my brother-in-law" Leya shook her head in amusement. She let out a small cynical laugh._

_"Ch! You are so mean" Reika blushed severely, causing her sister to laugh hysterically at her. _

_"Now turn around and let me have a look at you" Leya ordered and she swirled around swiftly as Leya studied her from head to toe._

Aiko smiled. Her hand brushed the white dress with the blue flowers hanging limply in the closet. That dress gave her sweet memories. But all those memories fled away three months ago with the death of her family. Kei brought the closet and the clothes in it from their house in Tougenkyo. She had sworn not to open the closet or wears any of the clothes in it but Kei refused to throw them away, saying that probably one day she would start a new life and might as well needed the closet and all the clothes once again. Her uncle insisted on keeping the clothes, hoping that one day she would wear it again and bring back the sweet, adorable and beautiful young lady she was before. 

"Aiko?" a soft pat landed on her slender shoulder. Aiko was being snapped away from her imagination. She turned around and found Hakkai smiling down to her. "Anything that we can wear?" the emerald eyes seemed to gleam magnificently under the showering of the evening sunbeams. Aiko smiled. 'Kei-jisan was right… I would one day start a new life and I did' 

She turned back and studied the closet. "Let's see what we have in here" she said as she picked out a dress and stared on it quietly. Then she shook her head in disgust and tossed it to her back randomly. The dress landed on the floor. Aiko took out another cloth and again she was not happy with it. The cloth joined the latter dress on the floor a moment later. Aiko kept on picking out dresses and clothes, shook her head and then tossed it aimlessly all around the room. 

Hakkai bewildered at seeing the mess around the room. The room was totally turned upside down, with mountains of cloth gathering here and there on every corner of the room. There were clothes on the bed, on the floor, on the table lamp, on the small table next to the bed, leaving no empty place except for the floor beneath his feet. Hakkai sweat dropped as Aiko still tossing the clothes away. 

"Yukata!!!" she finally stopped and turned around to Hakkai with a woolen turquoise hand-weaved sweater and a khaki pants held before her. "This will suits you just fine" she smiled merrily and looked up to Hakkai. The man gave neither positive nor negative respond on her suggestion but he stared at the room blankly.

"Hakkai?" Aiko called out curiously.

"Unh…?" the man was jerked away into reality at hearing the girl's voice. "Nanda?" he asked with a silly tone. It was obvious he wasn't listening to Aiko. 

Aiko stammered. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick?" she asked worriedly. Aiko stepped over to Hakkai and put one hand on the dark-haired man's forehead. The man was not having a fever. 

Hakkai held out a hand and pointed his finger all over the room. "Do you often make this kind of mess while picking the right cloth to wear?" Hakkai asked. Aiko looked around and chuckled nervously. 

The room was an absolute mess. 

Aiko looked back to Hakkai and smiled innocently as the latter shook his head in disbelief. 

"Usually Leya-nee-chan picked up the cloth for me… I'm suck at choosing the right cloth to wear" Aiko lowered her lids and looked down to her feet. Her sweet smile slowly changed into a faint curl. "I'm not a fashionable girl" she whispered softly. 

Hakkai smiled with sympathy. Kei told him that the clothes in the old closet belonged to Reika when she was still a little girl until she was finally a young lady of twenty. Aiko tried to get rid of the clothes from her sight but was not able to do it since the clothes brought her sweet memories back to her. Hakkai looked down to the girl stood before him. 

"You know what…?" Hakkai uttered softly as he reached a hand and picked the aqua green sweater and the khaki pants Aiko held in her grip. He put the sweater on his body. "I think you are quite a fashionable girl since this outfit that you chose for me was kind of okay" Hakkai smiled cheerfully. 

Aiko smiled faintly. Deep inside she knew well that Hakkai tried to cheer her up. "Honto ni?" she asked in a merry tone, trying to be as cheerful as she could so not to make the man worried. 

"Hai!" Hakkai kindly replied with a frantic nod. Aiko's lips curled up wide. She almost looked like a sweet little girl smiling to her guardian. Hakkai hung the clothes limply on his shoulder and walked to the closet. He looked into the closet and suddenly picked out a cream colored cheongsam. The cheongsam was knee-leveled and was paired up with matching colored pants. "Aiko…can you do me a favor?" he looked at the girl with a smile. 

"Nanda?" she asked, rather perplexed. 

"I want you to wear this" Hakkai said as he held out the cheongsam to Aiko. Aiko stood dumbfounded as she stared blankly at the dress then she looked at Hakkai with wonders. "You've said that Leya always helped you picked up the right dress…ongoing from now on I'm going to help you with the dress and for a start, let me see you in this cheongsam" Hakkai explained. 

Aiko smiled slightly and quietly took the cheongsam. "I'll wear it but first I have to choose the right outfit for the kappa, that o-nii-chan of mine and Goku too" she explained and started choosing the clothes that would suit Sanzo, Goku and Gojyo just fine. 

"I'll help you" Hakkai offered as he peeked into the closet and fixed his eyes on several clothes hung in it. "These kind of appealing" he said as his hand reached farther into depth of the closet.

"Wow!" Aiko shrieked with amaze at seeing the clothes Hakkai had picked up for Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku. "You've got taste" she exclaimed, fascinated at her lover's choice. 

Hakkai grinned grimly.

***************************** 

"Shit! Why do I have to wear this… this thing?" Gojyo tossed away a bra and the undergarment fell on Goku's head. The saru flailed his hands frantically before his face and smacked away the bra. 

Hakkai picked it up and fave it back to Gojyo. "Anou… I know this might sound ridiculous but as a woman, we have to have bigger breasts and this bra was the only solution" he explained as he chuckled nervously. He had spent hours at the shopping mall in the small town near the settlement with Aiko looking for the undergarments. Aiko was not fond of letting the guys wear her undergarments and they have to look for a new one. Hakkai's hair at the back of his neck stood upright at remembering the sarcastic smile thrown upon him by the salesgirl and the customers of the mall when Aiko measured his chest to find the right size of the bra. He almost think of shrinking himself into a pocket sized doll and hide in Aiko's pocket. 

"Ah right! Now you were ordering me to wear a bra and the next thing is what? I have to put apples into it to enhance the size of my breasts?" Gojyo asked with a sneer. He smirked and turned around. 

"Hai!" Hakkai nodded in approval. "I was just going to say that" he pointed to a pack filled with apples. 

Gojyo jaw dropped. "Hakkai… you must be kidding" he said, almost thinking of turning back. 

Hakkai chuckled edgily with one hand behind his head. "Unfortunately… I was not" Hakkai answered. Gojyo hollered in disbelief.

"And what's this?" Gojyo held out a maroon cheongsam. The skirt of the cheongsam was split at the side from the thigh to the ankle. "Are you going to make me wear this outfit?" he asked, annoyed at the outfit Hakkai had chosen for him.

"I thought you have beautiful thighs, almost as slender as a lady's… and since you like being horny, I've chosen this outfit for you" Hakkai explained and smiled stupidly.

"Nani?!" Gojyo shouted with rage. He blushed and Hakkai could not tell if the red flushes flickered due to anger or embarrassment. The hanyou sent Hakkai a deadly glare that caused the dark haired man to retreat to the bed, clearing up the bed from the groceries packs. "Baka!" Gojyo stared at Hakkai and then turned to the cheongsam.

"Ch!" Sanzo held the pale yellow sleeveless gown before him and matched it with a tanned colored camisole. "Do I really have to wear this?" he asked, brows twitched and face distorted. His face was blue pale and his voice shook. 

"What's the problem bouzu? You had always wore a skirt all over the time" Gojyo teased the blonde guy and smirked devilishly. Seconds later, he was dodging for rain of bullets from the monk's shoureijuu. 

"Ma…ma…minna-san, let's settled down and have a rest…we have a long day to go tomorrow" Hakkai stood in the middle of the cat and dog chasing and calmed the situation down. He struggled hard to block Sanzo from reaching Gojyo as the red headed ducked alarmingly before the harisen could connect to his skull. 

"Hakkai… I don't like the color of this cloth" Goku complaint as he held up a brown knee-leveled jumpsuit before his face. Hakkai had given him a cream colored shirt to wear with the jumpsuit. "Don't you have an orange one?" he asked naively.

The elders of the ikkou sweat dropped. 

"Che… baka!" Sanzo grumbled as he tried really hard to hold back the laughter that emerged at hearing Goku's remark. 

Gojyo laughed hysterically to the saru's face. "Oi saru… you really have a bad taste in matching up colors" he jested as he squeezed his stomach, lessening the pain in it as he laughed his heart out. His thighs turned stiff as he slapped it hard while laughing at Goku. 

"At least I don't have to wear a cheongsam like certain kappa" Goku returned the kappa's favor with a tease. Gojyo fell dumbfounded at the tease and glared at Goku before dashing toward the itan in full speed. He poked the boy right on the head and the latter kicked his leg. He yelled painfully and then stroked again, this time aiming for Goku's cheek.

"Yare yare desune…" Hakkai sighed in disappointment. 'Here we go again' 

Gojyo and Goku's bickering lasted for a couple of minute before they disengaged abruptly at the sound of a gunshot from Sanzo's shoureijuu. And it took another minute for them to run out of the room, rescuing themselves from the bullets that dashed out of the deadly weapon's mouth. 

*************************** 

Aiko stripped away the band she's tying her hair with. She unfolded the plait and shook her head, causing her hair to be swayed freely to a shoulder length. Her wavy dark hair fell limply on her shoulders and dark fringes bounced up and down at each sides of her face. She brushed the bangs on one side of her forehead to the back and studied the image of her face in the mirror. 

The sapphire-eyed girl glanced to the image of the cream colored cheongsam hung on the wall at her back and fixed her eyes on it. She never wears the cheongsam before. Aiko planned to wear the cheongsam for her special man and during that time the special man was Leon. Less she expected that Leon would never get the chance to see her wearing cheongsam, instead she would still wears it for her special man. But in this case it's not Leon but Hakkai. 

Aiko smiled. She looked back to her image in the mirror and blinked. Tomorrow is not going to be a hard task only to the ikkou but also to her. It's been long since she last dressed up as a proper lady… now she has to start all over again. 'Wonder if I had already lost that sense and that touch of femininity in me?'

"Well…guess I'll find out tomorrow," she whispered as she combed her hair softly and then blew off the candle on the chandelier.  

The night went deeper as the earth muffled into silence and serenity. Some heavy clouds, swept from the sky by rising wind, had left the moon bare; and her light, streaming in through a window next to her bed, shone full on her. 

Aiko's sapphire eyes that gleamed equally bright to the stars gazed up to the night sky. The howling of the wind put her mind at serene and her heart at rest. She rose up to her feet and walked gracefully to the bed. Her nightgown flailed gently as the night breeze swept her softly. She sank onto the bed and laid herself down to one side. 

The mutant girl was about to close her eyes when the door of her room creaked softly. Aiko's heart jumped at sudden. 'Who was that?' she wanted to ask the question but was stopped by her inner voice. 

The figure approached her with a tiptoed gait. Its shadow towered her slender body as it bent down. She squeezed her eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep. Peeping through a slight opened lid, Aiko could see a hand reaching out for her head, yet she still could not identify the figure at her back. 

The hand brushed her hair tenderly and at connecting flesh to flesh with the hand, Aiko fell at calm. She knew to whom that touch had belonged to. She could tell it by heart. The figure suddenly bent down and drew his face to hers. His face now came into view under the gleam of the moonlight that showered upon her. She could see the monocle on his right eyes as he planted a soft kiss on her cheek. 

"Oyasumi nasai koi" the man whispered softly to her ear and retreated to the door. He closed the door softly behind him and left the girl alone with a smile flickered upon her lips. Now she knew she'll be having the sweetest of dream that night.

"Oyasumi…" she breathed out and almost immediately fell into a silent slumber.

The night drew its curtain down.

To be continue…

****************************** 

Ayie: yare…yare… sorry for the delay of this chap. I barely had time to continue, alas the server at our computer lab had a severe problem…Argh!!! What a trouble….? Never mind…what do you think about this fic, do tell me if it bores you to death okay? 

Goku: GS-chan…you said that you think ayie-nee-chan was a magician… you must be a magician yourself since you guessed what Kei was thinking and your guess was right… Are you a magician just like Ayie-nee-chan?     Kazo: We know…you are a magician.Yay yay!

Hakkai: Ma…ma…we're really flattered and honored that this fic made you stepped out of the TMNT fandom Arista Niara-san. It was an honor to have a reader and reviewer like you…Arigatou. Hope you enjoy the rest of this fic.

Sanzo: Ayie! Have you started your assignment?

Ayie: Yada! I will start later…

Sanzo: you'll start now…don't put off your work until the last minutes pointed the shoureijuu to ayie's temple

Ayie: Hai hai! started scribbling the draft for her assignment 

Gojyo: Ow! Careful ne Aiko? it hurts let Aiko bandaged his arm, injured from being twisted by Ami                Aiko: Served you right kappa…you know you shouldn't mess up with Ami.


	4. The Bras?

Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie. 

****************************** 

Goku: Ayie-nee-chan! Wake up, it's time for you to say something for our dear readers… wake up! tugged at ayie's sleeve, pulling her off the bed

Ayie: =(  v,v)=…Pu…pu…snored quietly 

Goku: O_o"…Ayie-nee-chan!!

Aiko: -__-()… never mind, Sanzo and Ayie-san still sleeping after staying up all night… Sanzo helped ayie-san with her assignments, can't believe that actually happened. 

Gojyo: Sanzo changed a lot since we came to live with Ayie in her college…he was ayie's backbone, keeping that girl's feet to the ground every time she's feeling down. Thank God Sanzo encouraged her a lot… even though he's quite harsh… or else she would not be able to carry on with her life anymore. It's a brutal bash for her when 'that' thing happened during her holidays and now she's back at this place where she usually lived in torments…I could not imagine of what will happen if she got nobody to comfort her…so readers and reviewers, thanks for supporting her. 

***************************** 

**Love Potion no.9**

Chapter 4

Hakkai glanced around the room as he helped tying Goku's hair into two ponytails. The boy sat cross-legged with his back facing him. Goku had being a little bit obedient since he set off to work of combing his hair, straightening his spiky hair that kept popped upright every time he wanted to tie it up. 

Half an hour ago, Goku sobbed quietly due to the pain that struck him when Hakkai pulled the brown strands on his head that seemed to knot altogether. The emerald-eyed man had to put a quite amount of hair gel to soften the itan's hair. 

An amused curl appeared on his lips at seeing Sanzo whacking Gojyo's hand for messing with an extra hair added at the back of his head. He had give up the camisole and chose to wear a turtleneck sweater over his sleeveless gown. 'He looked rather beautiful though' Deep inside Hakkai complimented the blonde. 

Sanzo did have a beautiful face, even without him wearing the wig or the gown. Hakkai didn't dare to compliment Sanzo straight to his face because the monk threatened to kill him even when he only smiled with amaze. Sanzo's face flickered with anger and disgust each time he looked at himself in the mirror. 

Hakkai rolled his eyes over to Gojyo. The hanyou kept complaining about his bra made his chest itched. His hair was carefully weaved into a plait and rolled up into a bun by the maid a moment ago before the stout woman of forty set off to the kitchen to prepare lunch. His antenna-liked locks that always hung upright were fastened to each side of his head by butterfly-shaped pins.

Hakkai knew too well that neither Sanzo nor Gojyo were fond of having to disguise as a woman. Yet, both of them looked quite beautiful in a feminine form. Even he was too enthralled that he could not help himself not to stare at Gojyo and Sanzo with awe and adore the beauties of his fellow companions. 

Hakkai looked down to Goku, now fully dressed as a little girl of nine. That boy looked kawaii with two ponytails hanging on each side of his head, bouncing up and down every time he moved his head. The diadem was carefully veiled beyond the spiky bangs that covered most of his forehead. A pendant clanked noisily at his neck. It was a heart-shaped pendant, a gift from Aiko just to complete the genki girl figure out of that boy. 

"How do you get to wear pants instead of a skirt Hakkai?" Gojyo looked at Hakkai suspiciously. He and Sanzo were made to wear gown and cheongsam but Hakkai looked rather comfortable with a turquoise cardigan and khaki pants. "That's not fair" he demanded for justice.

'There he goes again… for the hundred times'. "Ma…ma…I have to drive the jeep and a driver looked inconvenient wearing a skirt" Hakkai explained as he pointed up his forefinger. Gojyo and Sanzo sweat dropped. 'Who could win over this man at talking?' 

Hakkai chuckled when Gojyo pouted and looked away. The red headed man walked a few steps and stumbled head over heels to the floor as he stepped on his skirt. Again! Gojyo rose up at instant, felling a little bit humiliated by his carelessness. His face flushed red as he lifted up his skirt and walked grumpily to the bathroom. 

The emerald-eyed man slapped his head with disbelief and laughed slightly. 'Guess we need to enhance our walking style' "Yare yare desune…" he shook his head. He rose up and stood before a mirror, studying his woman figure. 

Now, he had longer dark hair that was plaited at one side. His monocle had being removed and he's wearing a spectacle instead. He wore a turtleneck t-shirt inside his cardigan to cover his Adam's apple. The rest of his comrades wore clothes that made their mark of a true man invisible. 

Hakkai blushed at seeing his large fake breasts, made out of thick breasts pads. They were so ashamed that he had to shoo Aiko off from their room when they wanted to wear the bra. The poor girl retreated to her room; with a devilish smile upon her peachy lips; after demonstrating to them the proper way to wear a bra. She insisted on helping them with it but they resisted with a furious flush of red on their faces. 

It was a torture to make Sanzo and Gojyo wear bras. They kept resisting and threatening to kill him if he insisted. They only surrendered to his wish when Hakkai cast them a deadly glare; a glare that he only cast to his companion once in a blue moon. It's a glare that his comrades feared the most. They would be willing to fight an army of invincible youkai than staying in his view when he cast that glare. 

This was the worst ordeal they ever faced since they embarked on a mission to the west three months ago. It was countless of Sanzo's bullets that had being wasted to the air, curses and foul language uttered by both Gojyo and Sanzo, and whines of pain from Goku after being knocked violently either from Gojyo's knuckle or Sanzo's harisen. 'I guess disguising as a woman is harder than eliminating thousands of youkai' 

**************************** 

_Flashback _

Goku stared at the bra, spread randomly on the bed. He studied the undergarment, not sure of what to do with it. The young itan glanced over his shoulders and looked at his fellow companions. That ero kappa hadn't stop mumbling about having to wear a cheongsam and he released his dissatisfaction to poor Hakkai, now almost lost over fatigue and dizziness. 

"Hakkai…" Goku wanted to ask about the bra but he was stopped abruptly by the look on Hakkai's face. The man looked terribly dazzled over the situation. Who wouldn't? He's the one to accept all the complaints and deadly glare from the ero kappa and the namaguza bouzu. He turned his gaze back at the piece of cloth and scratched his head. Goku picked up the bra.

"You are not going to make me wear that silly thing!" Gojyo hollered as he waved one arm frantically in the air, rejecting the bra Hakkai held out at him. "And how come you get to wear pants instead of a skirt?" the red headed kappa asked annoyingly.

"Yare yare…" Hakkai sweat dropped. 'How many times do I have to explain to him?' "As I've told you before… I need to move my legs freely when I'm driving and that is one thing I can't do when I'm wearing a skirt" he explained with one finger pointed up. A cheeky smile flickered upon his face.

"Ch…!" Gojyo shrugged as he sank himself onto a chair and crossed his arms coldly before his chest. He looked down to his flat chest and sighed. 'Me…? Having breasts? I rather die in hell than having to wear a bra'

"Tsk! Tsk!" Hakkai shook his head. "Aiko just told me that Kazo gets worse at each minute… let's hope we'll get the cure soon" Hakkai tried to bait the fish; and he'd used the biggest and nastiest bait of all. 

Gojyo snapped his eyes opened and glared at Hakkai. The emerald-eyed youkai grinned menacingly at him. Gojyo turned his face away and grunted. He rose up to his feet and walked toward Hakkai. The hanyou snatched the bra from Hakkai's hand and went into the bathroom after grabbing the cheongsam that hung limply on a chair.

"Do you know how to wear it?" Hakkai asked before Gojyo shut the door of the bathroom. He got no proper respond except for a harsh humph.  

The bathroom door banged furiously as it was slammed shut by Gojyo. Hakkai smiled quietly. 'He should have known… he saw them with it all the time'

"Hakkai?" the voice called out for him. 

Hakkai turned to the bed, looking for Goku. As soon as he spotted the boy, Hakkai stumbled head over heels to the floor. 

Goku had worn the bra on his head instead of on his chest. He made a hat out of the bra. Hakkai propped on his elbows and rose up. He looked at Goku with a nervous smile. "Goku…that's not how you wear a bra" he corrected as he stood up to his feet. 

"Honto ni?" Goku asked naively. 'Now this boy knew nothing…he was sure of that'

Hakkai went to Goku and stripped the bra off his head. He stripped the boy off his usual cloth and sled the bra over his slender shoulders and placed it neat around his chest. Lucky for him, Goku would only have to wear a stretchable cotton bra. Hakkai stuffed a pair of sponges into the breast pad of Goku's bra.

"I hate being a girl" Goku grumbled as tiny red dots appeared on his chubby cheeks. Hakkai giggled nervously. 

"Now put on your shirt" Hakkai ordered as he handed the young itan his cream colored sleeveless shirt. Goku took the shirt and put it on and soon hopped into a brown jumpsuit. Hakkai smiled, Goku was the easiest to handle, as the latter didn't complaint too much. 

"Now Sanzo… do you need help with your bra?" Hakkai asked as he turned around to look at the monk. The blonde guy struggled hard to reach to his back to fasten the clip of his bra. Hakkai advanced to Sanzo with an offering hand. 

"BANG!BANG!" a pair of bullets dashed at each side of his head and missed his cheeks by mere of an inch. Hakkai sweat dropped. He stopped at his last pace and stood dumbfounded. 'That's the third time he escaped his death call for today' 

"Back off!" Sanzo warned as he blew the smoke out of the mouth of his shoureijuu. "Mess with me and you're a dead meat" the monk tossed his spirit-ascending gun onto the side table next to his bed. 

Hakkai nodded frantically and backed away a few steps before scampering away to the bathroom to check on Gojyo. 

"Baka!" Sanzo muttered coldly. He looked down to Goku. The saru stood staring at him, blushing furiously as he did so. "What are you staring at saru?!" he asked frigidly. Goku held out a trembling hand and pointed a finger to his chest. Sanzo looked down to his chest and blushed. He's showing off his chest with the wired bra before it. He quickly grabbed a towel and covered his chest and turned around at instant, but not before he whacked Goku's head with the harisen.

"Ittai!!!" Goku groaned as he clutched his aching head in his arms. He rubbed the spot where a new lump has started to form. He pouted at Sanzo who's banging on the bathroom door fumingly, urging the kappa to come out immediately.

A moment later, the door was spread opened and the hanyou stepped out of the bathroom, wearing the maron cheongsam. "Oi bouzu! Don't you know patience is a virtue?" the red headed asked as he brushed the locks on his forehead. 

Hakkai, Sanzo and Goku gawked at seeing Gojyo in that outfit. He was stunning. They could not believe their eyes and almost thought that they're dreaming. Gojyo actually looked gorgeous when he transformed into a woman form. He had stripped off the bandana around his forehead and tied his hair into a ponytail. 

"Stared at me like that and I'll kill you!!" Gojyo roared when he realized his companions stared at him with their jaw dropped. Sanzo turned away with a blush and Goku laughed heartily at Gojyo's face. Hakkai on the other hand apologized for staring. Gojyo stepped toward his bed and before he could even continue walking, he stumbled to the floor; face kissing the hard wooden planks and he laid there like a fallen monument. 

"Gojyo?" Hakkai called out with concern. He bent down on his knees, both hands on his laps and stared down to Gojyo.

Gojyo lifted his face. Blood trickled down his nostrils and he hastily wiped it away. He quickly got up on his feet and wiped the dust on his outfit. He actually had tripped over his own foot when he accidentally stepped on his skirt. A furious color red flushed on his face. He continued walking to the bed but the skirt limited his gait. He halted and lifted his skirt to his thighs level and marched to his destination. 

Goku laughed heartily at Gojyo being humiliated by his own act. He gripped on his stomach and guffawed continuously. 

Gojyo's head blew off hot steams. He grabbed a pillow and threw it to Goku. The pillow hit Goku right on his face. Gojyo shouted happily. "Hurrah!!! Bull's eye!" 

"Teme!!!" Goku howled angrily. He darted toward Gojyo and scrammed onto that kappa's body. He dragged him down to the bed and strangled him furiously. They fought teeth and nails and bobbed each other's head in a violent manner. Both of the hanyou and the itan tugged at each other's hair and then yelled with agony.

"Ma…ma…minna-san, now you're fighting like a girl" Hakkai tried to be the peacemaker. 

Gojyo and Goku stammered at hearing Hakkai's remark. They looked at each other and disengaged abruptly. They WERE fighting like girls. "Ch!" they grumbled at the same time and Goku ended the fight by sticking out his tongue to the kappa at his back before retreating to his bed. 

"Baka…" Sanzo shrugged. That kappa will always be a kappa and that saru will always be a saru; make them women or not. He turned to the side table and studied the gown lain upon it. 

"Sanzo?" Hakkai called out and he hurriedly grabbed the gown and went into the bathroom before the man could actually say something. No way he's going to let Hakkai lend him a hand. He would rather do it by himself. 

Hakkai smiled. Now, he's the only one left. He's still in his manly form. Dealing with the rest of his companions was such a hard work and now it's time for him to work on himself. He headed for his bed and carefully picked the clothes chosen by Aiko for him. A turquoise cardigan and khaki pants. Now he missed something… Hakkai looked around and realized that he didn't have the wig with him. Not like Gojyo, Hakkai had to wear a wig to lengthen his hair. Sanzo on the other hand, just need an extension of his blond hair. Earlier, the monk had already refused of having a hair longer than shoulder length. 

Hakkai scratched his head. 'Now…where did I misplaced it?'. He tried to recover the lost memory and finally succeeded. Hakkai went out of the room and headed for Aiko's room. He was so sure that he had left the wig somewhere in Aiko's room when they were busy unpacking the things they bought from the mall.

"Aiko?" Hakkai pushed the slightly ajar door softly and stepped inside the room. Less that he expected of what he might found as soon as he entered the girl's room. The emerald-eyed man gaped at the figure stood before him, in the middle of the room. He could feel his blood from all over his body rushed to his head. He blushed severely.

*************************** 

"Go-go…gomen!" Hakkai apologized as he gawped at the figure of Aiko, half naked. The girl wore only a short and a bra. Even Aiko stood dumbfounded, with face as red as a ripe apple. She looked around and spotted her blanket. Aiko hastily grabbed the blanket and muffled herself in it. 

"Gomen… I did not do it on purpose" he stuttered as he advanced to the girl with a pleading look. "I…I was…I was looking for my wig and the…the door was slightly opened, so… I thought…unh! Gomen nasai!" Hakkai kept apologizing and at the same time approaching Aiko as the latter kept backing away. 

Finally Aiko ended to a dead end when her back encountered with the bed pole. She stammered. Hakkai was getting nearer and nearer to her and the blanket is slipping down because she didn't hold it right. 

"Gomen…" Hakkai still wasn't aware of what he's doing. It seemed like he was completely blanked off. 

"Unh…unh…" Aiko became more nervous. She had to do something before the blanket slipped down from her grip. "Hakkai!!!" she called out loud. 

Her emerald-eyed lover halted at his pace and blinked with confusion. 

"Yameru Hakkai! Please turn around!" she urged as she tightened her grip on the blanket that covered her half-naked body.  

Hakkai felt as if a lightning had struck him alive. It awakened him from his deepest slumber. He quickly bowed and turned the other way around. "Suman ne Aiko…" he whispered as he could hear the girl scampering into her outfit. "I forgot to knock…" the handsome youkai explained with a shaking voice. 

"Hakkai…" suddenly the girl at his back called in a baffled tone. Hakkai peeked over his shoulder. Aiko was fully dressed in her cream-colored cheongsam; the one he had chosen for her, and now looked at him red flush on her delicate face. Hakkai turned and faced the sapphire-eyed girl. "Can you please help me?" she asked. Her voice trembled slightly.

"Nanda?" Hakkai studied Aiko's face. The girl still blushed furiously. 

"Can you please pull the zip at my back?" Aiko turned around, her back facing Hakkai. She lifted her plait to her shoulder and revealed her bareback as the zip was not pulled up. Hakkai walked toward Aiko and carefully pulled the zip up to the neck. He fastened her collar and brushed the locks of raven black were plastered to her slender neck. 

"Sankyu…" Aiko greeted. But the man at her back gave no respond. "Hakkai?" she called out softly. Suddenly she felt a sudden weight on her shoulder. Aiko turned her face slightly and saw Hakkai sank his face to her neck. The man's arms crept around her waist and hugged her tightly. Aiko wrapped her arms on Hakkai's and smiled.

Hakkai nuzzled Aiko's neck and planted a soft peck on the girl's slender neck. "I loved you so much…" he whispered to his lover's ear. Aiko blushed. She turned around and looked at Hakkai straight on his face. She held out one hand and caressed the brunette's face lovingly. Her hand brushed every part of Hakkai's face and the wandering ceased when her fingers touched Hakkai's lips. 

Aiko stammered. She quickly drew her hand away from Hakkai's face but the man grabbed it and kissed it tenderly. He kissed her palm and then her wrist and then he looked up to her with the fire of love flared upon his emerald eyes. Hakkai lifted up Aiko's chin and drew his face closer to hers. 

Aiko waited anxiously. Her heart raced and her pulse jumped violently. She could feel her body trembled and sudden coldness struck her motionless. A half of her wanted to make that man stop but the other half wanted the man to carry on. She struggled deep within herself. But as Aiko looked up to Hakkai's face, met his eyes and realized how much love he had upon her, she willingly surrendered herself. 

Hakkai's lips were barely an inch from Aiko's; the girl had closed her eyes when suddenly the wind blew in through the wide opened window. The window slammed harshly to the wall as the strong wind made its way into the room. The lovebirds disengaged abruptly, feared of any uninvited visitors from the room next door.

Both of the brunettes cast their gaze to the window and then looked at each other with faces as red as either Kazo or Gojyo's hair. They stared silently at each other and smiled. It's a pretending and a frustrated smile though. They knew they won't have this kind of chance again… it's not easy to be alone with the kappa, the saru and the monk around. 

"Yare…yare… I've forgotten my wig" Hakkai said as he chuckled edgily. He looked around the room. "I think I misplaced it somewhere here" he said as he checked the things scattered on Aiko's bed.

Aiko shook her head. She quietly picked up the wig Hakkai's searching for. Hakkai sweat dropped. The wig was right before his eyes. Does he really didn't see it or he's just pretending not to see it? 

The emerald-eyed youkai chuckled edgily as the girl cast a sweet cynical smile to his face. Aiko shook her head and suddenly held Hakkai's shoulders. Hakkai stammered. 'What is she going to do?' Hakkai was completely dumbfounded.

Aiko tiptoed and drew her face closer to Hakkai's. Hakkai's stared at her bewilderedly. 'Aiko dared to do it? I must be dreaming'. Suddenly Aiko reached a hand and played with Hakkai's hair that covered the half of his face.

"I'm going to miss you in this look…" she said softly as she descended back on her toes. Hakkai let out a deep breath and sighed with relief. 'And I thought she's going to do it' A slight curl appeared on his lips as he studied the sapphire-eyed girl's face. "Better I do this before I start seeing you as a girl or perhaps as an elder sister of mine" Aiko lifted her shoulders and her brows arched. She quickly landed a soft peck on Hakkai's cheek, making the latter blushed furiously. 

Aiko smiled. She pushed Hakkai softly and coaxed him to the door. "You haven't even started to dress yourself…better get going now Hakkai" Aiko pulled his hand and shoved him out of the room. Hakkai stood dumbfounded before the door when Aiko cast her the last smile and closed the door softly on his face. 

"Hakkai-san?" a man's voice shooed him off his hallucination. He turned over to his side and spotted Kei walking towards him. Hakkai quickly turned to the bold youkai and bowed respectively.

"Kei-san" Hakkai addressed him with respect. Never did he treat an elder person with disrespect before. It's just his nature of being polite. The older man came to his side and patted his shoulder.

"She can be quite amazing sometime and not to be said confusing at times" Kei smiled meaningfully as he uttered the words.  As soon as he said that, Kei just walked over Hakkai and left that man dumbfounded. 

Hakkai shook his head in disbelief as he watched Kei walked away. "Yare yare desune…" he sighed with a smile on his face. 'better get back to my room and get dressed' with that he walked away and entered the room next to Aiko's.

_End of flashback _

********************************* 

Hakkai smiled quietly. He looked at Gojyo who's coming out of the bathroom, a cigarette stuck out of his mouth. "Ma…ma Gojyo, it's impolite for a lady to smoke" he reminded.

Gojyo grunted. "I'm not a lady and I'm not going to be one…" he said coldly.

Hakkai sweat dropped. Suddenly their attention was drawn to the creaking door. The door was pushed open, revealing a figure stood before it. The ikkou jaw dropped at seeing the figure. Hakkai smiled proudly.

To be continue…

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Ayie: I'm leaving this chap at its suspence…bad bad me!!! HAHAHA….! Ops! Shimatta… I would like to say thanks to GS-chan, Sk8er boi, Fuuei-chan and Arista Niara for having reviewed this fic from chap to chap…I'm flattered Y_Y… GS-chan and Sk8er boi please don't take notice of what Gojyo had said earlier…I'm okay now… and oh Bluesinner…if you ever read this fic…don't laugh at my face when we meet in class… I'll kill you. And hurry up with your fic… I want to read it. 

Goku: We would like to say thanks to….

**Arista**** Niara – Good luck with your Saiyuki fic…I'm looking forward to read it in this fandom…till then enjoy this fic…And yes! The bras thing really made me laugh…can you imagine boys wearing a bra? Ulp…sorry bluesinner**

**Fuuei-chan** – pic on the ikkou in their dresses…well…matte kudasai…it's on progress. 

**Sk8er boi** – Hai hai! I've sent to you and please…don't make Hakkai got jealous… you'll never know what will happen when he does…-__-() and don't worry about this fic getting less reviews…I wrote it for my dear readers whose names I kept mentioned over and over in this fic… reviews is just a bonus…the real reward is the readers who liked and loved the fic…and the friends I made in them…Love you minna-san!

**Genjo**** Sanzo – Sorry GS-chan if the this chap is not comical enough…I've tried really hard to make it a hilarious one but I'm really suck at writing humor fic….Gomen ne? Thanks for the correction…yep! I was wrong at that grammar…thanks for reminding me…please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just a simple human being… mistakes was common and I need someone to keep me on track…thanks again. Good Luck with your exam…I've cast a success spell on you my dear…you'll do well…after all I'm your magician right? Please don't mess up my room…I promised I'll continue this fic…^_^"**

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	5. Off we go!

Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie. 

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Ayie: I don't think the last chap hilarious… I'm a failure when it comes on writing humor fic…blergh :P!! I'm trying my best to make it comical but…it turned out pretty bad. Y_Y… ma…ma… 

Sanzo: Urusai and hayaku with your fifth chap… you still have a lot of things to do. 

Ayie: Hey! It's weekend… give me a break will ya?

Hakkai: unfortunately we can't…ayie-san, you need to analyze the novel and then draft your lesson plan, and then revise for your upcoming subject, and then study for your quizzes, then type your assignment, and then memorized all the phonetics sound…bla bla blah… keeps on mumbling

Ayie: -___-()…What?! That much??!!! I hate students' life… sorry that it took me so long to upload this chap…Like what Hakkai had said just now… I got lists of millions of things I've got to do before I could settle down and write and I just don't want to write in haste and ended writing a chap worthless reading… gomen and thanks for waiting. Sankyu na!

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**Love Potion no.9**

Chapter 5

_Suddenly their attention was drawn to the creaking door. The door was pushed open, revealing a figure stood before it. The ikkou jaw dropped at seeing the figure. Hakkai smiled proudly._

There was Aiko, standing with grace and splendor looks before the door. She's no longer Aiko that they had known before. Aiko was now indeed a young lady with gorgeous and eye-catching appearance. The curves that were hidden beneath her vest and shabby pants before were now displayed in a very appealing manner. Now, she's standing in front of the ikkou in a body of a well-built lady of twenty. Her face no longer plain, instead it was beautifully touched up; yet it's still naturally looked. The raven black hair was plaited and was let to hang loosely on her slender shoulder. Swirling locks bounced at each side of her face. 

Despite of the beauty that shone upon her figure, a pale color suddenly emerged on her fair face. Her rounded eyes fixed on the ikkou with fret and then her lips moved as she uttered something, almost stuttering.

"Na-nan…nanda?" she stood there like a statue, dumbfounded by the men's stares. They almost looked like as if they wanted to gulp her down to their throats. Aiko felt like shrinking into a chibi form and tiptoed away at seeing the piercing glares cast by the ikkou. 

The ikkou didn't respond to her and kept staring at her with their jaws dropped. Aiko started panicking. "Minna-san!!" she called out, almost screaming her lungs out. Her face flushed red with embarrassment. 

Hakkai, Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku retreated their hanging jaws and coughed alarmingly. Sanzo turned his face the other way around to hide his blushing face. Hakkai smiled nervously as he uttered his typical "Yare yare desune" and brushed the back of his head. 

Goku, on the other hand, rushed over to Aiko and halted right before her. He looked up to her and gaped to her face. "Kawaii…" he complimented. He kept staring at Aiko with a wide opened mouth. Aiko blushed viciously at that compliment.

"Anou…" she ended up chuckling edgily, not knowing what to say. "Arigatou" that's the only word she could think of returning the kid's courtesy of a very sincere compliment.

"I'm feeling horny right now… would you please kiss me?" Out of the blue, a red haired head popped out from behind her head and almost touched her face by merely of an inch. Aiko jumped away at instant and stared at Gojyo; the man that appeared all of a sudden from behind her, and sweat dropped. She felt like she could die of shock.

"Tem…teme! Kono hentai ero kappa… red headed gokiburi…echi…yaoi… get away from me!" she stuttered furiously and her cheeks were crimson colored. Her fingers almost gleamed with the familiar pink beams that she would without doubt released it if the kappa would ever think of kissing her. 

Gojyo smirked devilishly. He crossed his arms behind his head and walked toward the trembling Aiko. The poor girl backed away a few steps; the beam had grown bigger at each step Gojyo had taken. 'She will release it anytime now'

"Ahem!" Out of a sudden, Hakkai appeared from nowhere and stood in between the retreating Aiko and the advancing Gojyo. Gojyo gawped, for the last thing he saw was Hakkai's devilish smile and the next thing he remembered is seeing tiny stars that danced before his eyes as Hakkai's fist punched him right on his face. 

"Ittai…" Gojyo moaned as he staggered aimlessly around the room. 'It's a big mistake to seduce Aiko when Hakkai's around'. 

"Gomen Gojyo… but I could not stand seeing a beautiful lady such as you seducing another lady" the dark haired youkai smiled cynically, making the girl behind him chuckled in amusement. Goku laughed hysterically at the remark. 

"Served you right ero kappa" Goku laughed at Gojyo's face and ended up receiving a brutal bash on his head from Gojyo's hard fist. 

Aiko breathed out with relief. The pink beam fast disappeared.

"Gomen…" Hakkai turned around. His sudden movement made his shoulder knocked the girl's arm and his weight pushed her to stumble backward. Aiko flailed her arms frantically and he grabbed it with alarm. 

"Sumimasen" Hakkai chuckled nervously as Aiko stared at him with her sweats dropped. She slapped her head with disbelief. 'This guy always knocked me down every time he turned around… wonder how long this would last?'

Aiko sighed out a deep breath and looked around the room. 

"Is everyone ready?" she asked. A sweet menacing smile appeared on her peachy lips as her sapphire blue eyes came in contact with the sight of Sanzo in her girly outfit. 'That monk really was something'

"Ma…ma… Sanzo-nii-chan, you look gorgeous" Aiko said in a sneer. Her compliment made Hakkai sweat dropped. 'This girl is looking for trouble'. "May be you should think over the idea of replacing your outdated robe with a gown instead" Aiko added as she winked at the monk.

Hakkai stumbled head over heels at the remark. 'She's dead for sure!'

An extra big vein popped out on Sanzo's forehead.  His ears turned red in color. His head blew off hot steams. He turned around and sent Aiko a death pierced glare. 

"One…two…" Aiko counted silently. She stepped out from her last standing position and "Three!!" she avoided the harisen that dashed toward her by leaping out immediately. She bumped into Hakkai and together they fell onto the floor. 

The flying harisen, which had missed its target, knocked another target, Gojyo's head. An alarming yelp escaped the kappa's mouth as the harisen made contact with his forehead. "Ittai…" he rubbed the aching spot. "Oi Aiko! Why in the world you pissed that namaguza bouzu off with your stupid joke?!" Gojyo cried and looked up to Aiko, or may be looked down.

The girl now was on top of Hakkai, who lied motionless on the floor. Both of the brunettes stared at each other's faces and fell dumb. 'Okay! Two dark haired ladies hugging each other on the floor, that's quite a sight on a fair morning'

Gojyo coughed with warning. Both of the brunettes were shocked. They disengaged abruptly and blushed at seeing the sneer on each face of the rest of the ikkou. The pair bowed to each other and turned around in different ways. 

Gojyo rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. 'Stupid lovebirds…'. "Will you two stop jumping back from each other and blush?" he exclaimed. "I'm going crazy with your shyness…hai hai" the kappa turned around and left the room. 'Hakkai… oh man! You're indeed a lucky man' 

"Ch!" Sanzo shook his head and turned around. He looked through the wide opened window and his lips curled slightly in a rare flicker of amuse. He's no expert in lovemaking, but he agreed with Gojyo. That pair really was weird. 

Aiko went to the door. She's still blushing. "We'll be going after breakfast" she muttered as she walked out of the room, without turning back to the insiders. 

Hakkai stood silent as he watched Aiko walked away. Bit by bit, a slight smile appeared on his lips. 

Goku looked at Sanzo and then turned his gaze at Hakkai. Next, he turned at the fast disappearing Aiko and retreated his gaze back at the two men. Lastly, he shook his head frantically. 'Huh! Adult's love is such a complicated thing!' he grunted. 'And yet…it could not be eaten'

************************ 

Gojyo turned the doorknob and pushed the door gently, trying to avoid an ear-sore by the creaking sound. He stepped into the room and walked in a silent gait toward the bed. The red haired man opened the curtain that veiled the bed and towered over a sleeping figure on it. 

He smiled at seeing the boy who snored quietly under the blanket as he curled up like a baby in his mom's cradle. The boy looked calm despite the trembles that shook his body slightly. 

Gojyo put one hand on the boy's forehead. The heat burned his palm and wretched his face. He rubbed the sweaty forehead and caressed the young hanyou's head. Suddenly, the red orbs beneath the sweaty forehead were popped opened. A thin smile flickered upon the pale blue lips. 

"Oi kappa…" was the address that escaped the trembling lips. Gojyo allowed a reassuring smile to emerge on his face as he looked down to Kazo. "You look pretty beautiful for a female kappa…" the boy teased him as he curled up a fist and stabbed Gojyo's side. 

Gojyo frowned and poked the kid's head with one fist, more in a playful manner than anger. A smile flickered upon his face when the boy lying on the bed smiled in glee and later shoved his hand away. Kazo produced a harsh cough then, making the elder hanyou panicked. 

Kazo smiled weakly as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He studied Gojyo's worried face with amuse. The red haired boy chuckled slightly and again coughed out hard. 

"Kazo?!" Gojyo sank to Kazo's bedside and aided the boy's pain by rubbing his chest. 

Kazo smacked Gojyo's hand away, refused to have so much affection. "Oi kappa! Take it easy… I'm not going to die" he said in a mocking tone. 'At least I'm not going to die in these few days…'

"Baka…" Gojyo mumbled to himself. "Oi kiddo! Don't act as if you're so strong… now you are no more stronger than any of the youkai I had fought before" the redheaded returned the mocking as he brushed the lock that stuck out from his well-combed hair. As soon as his hand made contact with the butterfly-shaped pins, Gojyo snarled with irritation. 

Kazo smiled at seeing Gojyo's reaction and after a moment his smile changed into a frown. He sighed deeply and looked away from Gojyo's face. "You know Gojyo…" he whispered slightly, enough for the kappa to hear. Kazo let out another deep sigh and uttered, "You don't have to do this… disguising as a woman and scratching your own ego just to save me" 

Gojyo's eyes narrowed and his face showed sympathy. He turned his back to Kazo and anchored his chin on his hands. The kappa stared at the empty wall before him with an empty glare. 

"You know what Kazo? This is your fault…" Gojyo said, still his back facing Kazo. From behind him, the redheaded man could hear the boy's sobs, faint and slight. A thin smile was drawn upon his lips and later changed into a devilish smirk. "This is all your fault so don't you dare try to escape by dying!" Gojyo turned around abruptly and ruffled the kid's drenched hair. 

The sob ceased immediately at hearing the remark. 

"You have to wait for us to return with the antidote because you owed me a hard poke on your head for troubling me with this dress-up" Gojyo rose from the bed and crossed both of his arms behind his head. "So… don't even think of dying so that you can't get away from your debt" he winked and instantly walked away from the bed. 

Gojyo whistled as he opened the door. But before he could even step out, Kazo called out for him. The hanyou turned his face the other way around and arched one red brow. 

"Nanda?"

"I'll wait for you but no way I'm going to let you poke my head…" the boy stuck his tongue out and laid on his side, facing the wall with Gojyo at his back. "Now… go away and don't come back without the antidote" he added as he waved one hand, signaling the latter to go away.

"Mou yarou…!" Gojyo grunted. After a moment he smiled and softly closed the door of the room. 

"Gambatte…" a soft hiss escaped from Kazo's mouth as he closed his eyes and fell into a deepest slumber. From somewhere in his restless sleep, he fought the pain over and over; not willing to lose, not with the ikkou risking their life to get the cure.

*************************** 

Gojyo grunted heavily and leant his back against the jeep. He crossed his arms behind his head and looked up to the sky. The wind brushed his face soft and tender. His skirt flailed aimlessly, revealing long slender legs. When they reached a rocky road, the jeep bumped up and down and shook violently, and he would end up struggling really hard to keep his breasts' pad at its place. 

The redheaded hanyou looked at his torso, now with a pair of fake boops protruding instead of a flat chest that was once a place where all girls had leant their heads. He murmured with disgust and cursed silently.

"Wonder how the girls you'd slept with would react if they ever see you in this woman form" 

Gojyo lifted his head and sent the owner of the voice an enraged glare. The girl supported her chin on her palm and propped her arms on her knees as she bent forward, looking at his face. A sweet devilish-liked smile was displayed on her face. Gojyo's eyes narrowed and the girl retreated her eyes by turning away and whistled in glee.

"Baka!" Gojyo cursed in between his breath. He turned to look at the driver. "Oi Hakkai! When are we going to reach that stupid damn town of morons?" Gojyo scratched his itchy shoulder, which was caused by the bra's straps that prodded continuously with his skin as he moved. 

Aiko guffawed. "May be I should have bought strapless bra for you instead ero kappa" she covered her mouth as she laughed heartily. 

Gojyo swayed his fist before the girl's face, annoyed at the mocking.

"Yare yare… we'll be there in an hour or so" Hakkai answered. They had been driving for half an hour right now and everyone on board were getting rather impatient and comfortless. However it was amazing that Goku was able to sleep soundly during the whole journey.

Aiko gazed at the sleeping boy and smiled. 'Goku… the one that can see beyond the invisibles… wonder who gave him that name?'. Aiko remembered something and sweat dropped. "Ma…ma…minna-san, we've forgotten to give you a girl's name" she reminded.

"Can we skip that matter and bring it out later?" Gojyo was not fond of discussing anything about his new appearance. 

"Until the townsfolk ask your name and you accidentally mentioned the so-called name Gojyo in the open and revealed your true manly identity?" Aiko asked, rather cynical. Gojyo returned her farce remark with a snarl. The girl made sense but there's no way he would admit that.

"Yare yare… you're right Aiko, what do you think Sanzo? Shall we have a girl's name instead of our names right now?" Hakkai looked at the dumb monk next to him from the corner of his eyes. 'Arara…I can help myself not to stare at him'. Hakkai quietly retreated his gaze with a slight flush of red on his face. 

The sunshine gold hair flailed softly at being brushed by the darting wind. His distorting face looked radiant under the gleaming of the sun. With tiny beads of sweat on his forehead that glinted brilliantly, he almost resembled out some beautiful Goddess that everyone kept imagining in his or her head and he seemed to look sunny himself. The most outstanding part of his beauty was indeed the pair of violet eyes that gleamed gloriously even though it seemed to show nothing.

Aiko chuckled slightly at realizing Hakkai's reaction when he turned to look at Sanzo. She had to admit it, if she didn't know the ikkou better, she will think that Sanzo was really a woman; the most beautiful woman she ever saw. 

The sapphire-eyed girl looked around in the fast moving jeep. A flicker of joy flashed upon her delicate face. Now she was on board with three beautiful women and a kawaii girl and it was not much to say that she felt like she's traveling with three older sisters and a younger sister. Aiko laughed quietly.

"WHACK!!!"

Somehow, out of nowhere, the paper fan protruded out from the monk's cardigan and bashed on her head. It connected hard with her skull that she was sent to stumble backward. Aiko rubbed her aching head and mumbled "Ittai…" 

"Oi! What's that for?" Aiko looked up to Sanzo, now standing at the front seat, holding an oversized paper fan in his hand. 

"Stop smiling with glee or you'll receive another bash like that" Sanzo warned as he glared at Aiko with the deadliest glare she ever saw.

"Kono baka namaguza bou… er… o-nee-chan…" she slipped that deadly word out of her mouth, making the towering blonde shook tremendously with fume. Veins popped here and there on his forehead as his face flushed crimson red and his lips clamped tightly shut. Aiko cupped one palm before her mouth and bewildered at seeing the harisen was brought at fast lightning speed down to her head. 

"TWHACK!!!" the harisen hit again and it sounded like it almost broke her skull into pieces. Aiko stumbled to the floor with her head spinning and her eyes spun crazily. "Ittai…" she murmured unconsciously.

Gojyo watched the scene with fret. He avoided making as much as noise as he could so not to make the monk gets more enraged. If Sanzo could hit Aiko, her long lost sister and friend, as brutal as that, it was no doubt he could kill him at instant. The redheaded cowered at one edge of the jeep; sweat dropping. 

"Ma…ma…Sanzo, don't you think that was too hard for a girl?" Hakkai asked nervously.

"What's the problem if she's a girl? I'm a girl too" Sanzo replied with a devilish smirk flashed upon his lips. His eyes that showed nothing a moment ago had shone with the fire of devil that blazed furiously. 'A girl they want me to be… a bitchy girl I'm going to be'

Hakkai sweat dropped. Now he could not say anything. It's not fair for a man to hit a girl that hard but now Sanzo was equally a woman to Aiko, and a girl hitting another girl was common. 

"Ch!" Aiko had regained her consciousness and she pushed herself upward, rubbing her head and staring at the blonde monk with a pout. 'I'm going to make you pay these some fine days… baka o-nii-chan'

"Well… back to the name thing" Hakkai kept his eyes fixed on the bumpy road and tried avoiding as much bumps as possible. "What name do you prefer Sanzo?" the dark-haired youkai glanced at Nimmiku. The little dragon flapped her wings frantically every time the jeep rocked. Even the passengers bobbed up and down helplessly every time the tires knocked with the bumps. 

Sanzo didn't replied. 'How could he? He never knew any women's name before and how he supposed to come out with one'. He just produced a harsh humph and back to silence.

"Ah! I know… why don't you name yourself Flora? That's a good name" Gojyo advanced in between Sanzo and Hakkai. He turned to Sanzo, getting ready if the monk would ever bring out the harisen into view. But the monk didn't react a bit.

"Hai hai! That's a good name… sounds feminine" Hakkai complimented. "How do you come out with that name?" he asked.

Gojyo smirked. He retreated to his seat and stretched his arms, yawning noisily as he did so. "Ah…it's a name of the girl I've slept with at the last town we've stopped" he said. "That girl has nice butts and she rocked" there he goes, Gojyo and his hentai self.

Hakkai and Aiko's sweat dropped. 

"You're a dead meat kappa" Aiko jeered at his face. 

Gojyo gawped. He realized that he had uttered the forbidden remark. The hanyou turned his head toward the blonde who had his back facing him. The blonde's head seemed to blow off steams and his ears reddened. Almost in a fraction of a second, the harisen came into view and later was brought down onto his head.

"WHACK!!!" the paper fan connected with his head brutally, and it did not stopped there as it came down over and over. 

"Omae wo kuruso!!! How dare you give me the name of the girl you had fuck…kono hentai ero kappa!!!!" Sanzo roared out loud. He stomped his feet on Gojyo's head and bashed the hanyou head continuously. "Do you think I'm your girl…?!!!"

The whacking session went on and on. Even Harkuryuu sent out a helpless coo, pleading the monk to stop since all those bashes caused the jeep to rock severely.

It took ten minutes for the whacking session to cease. Sanzo settled back to his seat and grunted. What was left at the backseat was Gojyo, who staggered aimlessly on his knee, clutching his spinning head with his arms; Aiko, who had being left bewildered at the scene with her mouth hung opened and her sweat dropped upon her white pale face; and Goku, who snored soundly on the seat. 

Aiko's jaw dropped. 'That was twenty whacks counted altogether'. She shook her head with fret. She was indeed lucky that she's not the one to receive all those brutal and deadly strikes. 

Gojyo was back to himself a moment later but not without severe bumps and bruises on his now beautiful face. Curses and swears escaped his beautifully curved lips, now were shaded with a pink sheen of lipstick.

"Gomen ne Sanzo… but the name Flora was kind of appealing and it suits you just fine" Hakkai gave out a sincere comment. Abruptly the monk turned his face toward him and shot him a deadly glare. Hakkai's sweat dropped and chuckled edgily. "Well… only if you're okay with it" he muttered scarcely. 

Sanzo's amethyst eyes narrowed and then amazingly turned soothe. He turned his face to the front and snorted "Ch! Fine!" was the reply.

Hakkai sighed with relief. "Now it's your name Gojyo!" he chirped happily. 

"Unh?" Gojyo was struck dumbfounded. He seemed to drown a moment ago with all the curses and Hakkai's chirp brought him back to the surface. "Nanda?" he asked, blankly.

"Kappa… the bumps on your head surely had knocked you out dumb" Aiko shook her head with disbelief. 

"I know the right name for you…" Sanzo uttered. The edge of his lips curled up into a devilish smirk. "Betty Boops" 

Aiko's brows arched with wonder. Why Betty Boops? She glanced at Gojyo and ended laughing heartily.

Gojyo's forehead twitched. He looked down to his chest and blushed furiously. He had the biggest breasts among all of them and he got his name from the size of it. 

"K'so!" he cursed. 

Hakkai's lips were drawn up into a slight curl. "Ma…ma… that will attract so much attention to Gojyo and I don't think we need that much attention Sanzo" he tried defending Gojyo but he could not help himself not to laugh slightly. 'Poor Gojyo'

"Ch! Fine! Make fun of me kono baka… I don't mind" Gojyo pouted. "At least any man who look at me right now would have their heart crushing on me" he said in a sneer.

Aiko, Hakkai and Sanzo sweat dropped. 'He's a girl now and yet he's still an ero kappa'

"Betty Boops was too much even though it's kind off suits you fine… Misa is okay" Aiko said as she coughed with alarm. Gojyo raised his shoulders as a sign of acceptance. Aiko turned to Hakkai. "What about you Hakkai? Do you have a name in your mind?" 

Hakkai fell silent. He did have one. "Leona" the name came out at instant, flowing stream-liked from his mouth. 

Aiko turned dumb at hearing the name. The name sounded like Leon, her long dead fiancé. She looked at Hakkai. The man's back was facing her. Aiko looked at the rear-view mirror and found Hakkai's image, his eyes fixed at her. The look in that man's eyes seemed to say something but Aiko couldn't make it out in one word. 

"That's a good name" the compliment came out faint and slight. She heaved a deep breath and clapped her hand once. A wide smile returned to her face. "Now Goku's turn… anyone got any idea?" she asked as she turned her head frantically, looking at each of the elder 'girls'. 

No one made a sound. Aiko shrugged. She looked at Goku. Now the boy looked even more kawaii in a girl look. "Yuyue…" the name slipped out of her mouth unintentionally.

Gojyo raised his brows and nodded in agreement. "That seems to fit" he said. Even Sanzo and Hakkai did not protest. 

Aiko smiled. 

_"Liamm wanted a boy but I prefer a girl" Leya caressed her tummy, where a human being was forming inside. _

_Reika shook her head in amuse. She sat down next to Leya and sled an arm over her sister's shoulder. "Don't get too hasty… the pregnancy barely reached a couple of month" she said as she nuzzled Leya's cheek. The future-to-be mother was indeed happy to know that she was pregnant. Reika planted a loving kiss on her sister's cheek and smiled. _

_"Aka-chan will be a girl and I'm going to name her Yuyue" Leya whispered as she smiled soothingly at her tummy, down her breast. Reika smiled in glee. _

Without her consent, a pearly drop ran down her cheek and she hastily wiped it away. 'Leya… I really wished aka-chan was born before you died so that you'll be able to make your wish come true' Deep inside she prayed silently for her dead sister and the unborn baby that died with her during the massacre. 

Hakkai retreated his gaze. He's been staring at Aiko's image in the rear-view mirror and he noticed the girl's tear. The tear just tore his heart apart. 'Only if I knew' 

"Oi! Wake up saru!!!" Gojyo nudged Goku's arm with his foot and turned the boy upright. The latter boy mumbled out something and turned on his side, and snored even louder than before. Gojyo fumed. He bent down and shook Goku's body furiously. "Yuyue!!! Wake up you lazy saru!!!" and he waited for the respond. 

Goku's eyes popped opened. The half-opened golden orbs blinked with tears. "Nani? Who's Yuyue?" he asked with wonders. The itan rubbed his eyes with the back of his palm. He looked around and "Hata harahetta ne!!!" he cried out loud. 

The elders' sweat dropped. 

Gojyo's red brow twitched and a vein popped out on top of it. He curled up a fist and bobbed the itan's head. 

"Ittai…" Goku moaned as he clutched his head with both arms. He kicked the hanyou's leg in return and the latter punched him straight on the face. The patterned fight of Goku-Gojyo occurred again. Hakkai and Aiko sighed. Now they're waiting for the harisen or the shoureijuu to make its appearance. 

"One…two…three" Aiko counted silently. Her fingers moved deftly as she counted.

"URUSEI!!!" 

Sanzo turned around and the shoureijuu blown off with the bullets dashed toward Gojyo and Goku. The silvery bullets missed them by mere of an inch. Aiko shook her head. She looked down to her fingers. Three fingers were down to her palm. The monk interfered into the fight just in time. 

Gojyo and Goku waved out tiny white flags and scurried to their seats. 

"Ma…ma…minna-san, we're almost there" Hakkai announced. The rest of the ikkou looked up to the horizon, where the sight of a town slowly emerged. Now the time for their greatest task was just a mile to come. Deep in the driver's heart, a silent pray was conveyed, not to God but more to the passengers on board. It was a prayer with hope that they would do just fine as women.

The jeep kept on moving to the horizon. 

To be continue…

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Ayie: Okay… finish chapter 5, now, I have to work on chap 2 of Brotherly Love. Let's keep this straight so I go straight to the notes for the reviewers. 

**Vex** – Yay! You're back… glad to know that you're around. Thanks for the compliment and I really hoped that you would enjoy this fic to the fullest. Thanks for loving this fic… and thanks for all the supports. Gomen that I could not upload this fic sooner… but I'll make sure the upcoming chaps will be worth reading… thanks for waiting. And yes! This fic is going to be long ^____^

**Sk8er boi** – It's okay… take your time to read this fic… I know you need to study to improve your grade. Sorry that you didn't found this fic as likeable as Surviving Life… I'll try to make it better okay?

**Arista Niara** – Thanks Arista-san, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chap. If you have any idea to make this fic even more hilarious… please feel free to state it in the reviews… Great that you can picture the scene in front of your eyes… that's what exactly I'm trying to make my readers do ^__~

**GS-chan** – my dear unique friend… thanks for bringing my feet back to the ground. Thanks for the great chap of Holding the Blue Moon. About the pairing… it's a secret…I'll draw Sanzo and Gojyo in their women form someday and I'll mail it to you… matte kudasai and enjoy your holidays ne?

**Bluesinner** – thanks for liking this fic… enjoy it but don't bring it out in class and STOP teasing me about my bio :p. Nice poems you got there… don't know you're such a romantic guy… hehe…if you got any problem with the Japanese words, please fell free to leave it out in the review so I'll translate it in the next chap… or you can just ask.

  
 


	6. He's my girl!

Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie. 

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Ayie: Yare yare… gomen nasai minna-san, this fic was pending for a quite some time and some readers even think that I had stopped writing this fic. GOMEN! I'm sorry for the delay but I was having my examination week and I have to focus on my revisions. Sumimasen… bows head…and ma…ma…how can I get the comical idea for this fic? Well, I'm trying my best here…so forgive me if this chap is not somewhat humorous… gomen…

Sanzo: -__-++…takes out the harisen and whacks ayie's head continuously… STOP…TALKING…AND…WRITE!!!! keep whacking and starts stomping his foot on Ayie

Ayie: @__@""…ittei…staggers aimlessly

Hakkai: Yare yare desune…Sanzo, I think you've put too much bumps on her head slaps head in disbelief, knowing that he has to work on healing ayie's headache, again!… by the way, minna-san, thanks for reviewing the fic and more for waiting patiently for the uploading. Arigatou na minna-san bows slightly, with a merry smile on his face

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**Love Potion no.9**

Chapter 6

_The jeep kept on moving to the horizon. _

Aiko lifted her face and looked away to the horizon. She retreated her eyes and then bowed her head slightly, looking down to her hands, which clasped on something. She opened her cupped hands and studied the phial. The phial contained some kind of transparent liquid that reflected her image back to her. 

"What's that?" Goku stumbled on her arms and peeked into her hands. The sudden weight caused Aiko to accidentally jerked back and sent the phial soaring up before her head. She gawped and waited anxiously for the phial to crash over the floor of the jeep. 'Here it goes…our only chance'. 

It came just in time. Gojyo caught the phial just before it crashed down to the floor. Aiko sighed with relief. 'It was safe!' she leant against the jeep and sighed out a very deep breathe. 

"What's this?" Gojyo asked as he held up the phial and studied it intently. He shook the phial with haste and watched as the bubbles formed on the surface. 

A slight curl appeared on her sweet cherry mouth. She snapped her finger and said,

"That's the love potion number nine" 

"Ek?" Goku and Gojyo turned to each other's face and gaped. They turned at Aiko and looked at her with their eyes widened.

"Love potion number nine?"

Aiko smiled merrily.

******************************** 

_-Flashback-_

_"Reika!" the calling made her head turned to the door. Aiko smiled at seeing her uncle standing by the door. _

_"Kei-jii-san" she addressed him with respect. She was about to rise to her feet when her uncle gestured and urged her to sit down. Aiko surrendered to the order and remained seated by the bedside. She waited for the bold youkai to say something. The look on Kei's eyes suggested that he had something important to tell her. _

_Kei strode to Aiko's bed and halted right before her. He patted the girl's head and smiled eerily. Aiko looked up to Kei's face with some sort of suspicion.  "Kei-jii-san… daijoubu desuka ne?" she asked with worries. _

_Kei laughed, seemed to be amused with the amount of suspicions and worries showered upon her beautiful face. He sank to the bedside, sitting before the girl and then took the girl's hands into his. One of his hands brushed the locks on the side of the girl's face. He ended up pinching Aiko's rosy cheek._

_"Ittei!" the girl hissed in pain. She pouted at Kei as she rubbed the aching spot on her cheek. "Nani yo?" she asked, quite irritated when Kei laughed heartily to her face. _

_Kei stopped laughing and stared at Aiko's face. The girl was Reika once again, after months of hiding beneath the rigid and stiff Aiko. After the death of her family, the girl transformed abruptly into someone fearless of death and is capable of slaughtering thousands of youkais. Her hands were stained of blood and her life was sinful. The only way to forfeit from her sins was to travel to the West on the order of Goddess of Mercy, alone with her little brother, who was put under her care after the death of their family._

_"O-jii-san" Aiko called out of wonders. It worries her to see her uncle staring at her like that. _

_Kei smiled. "It's a great pleasure to see you like this again Reika" he said as his smile widened. "I will never forget how beautiful you were before it happen and never stopped hoping that one day I'll see you like that again" he explained. He pinched Aiko nose and giggled as Aiko grunted. Even though Aiko was his brother-in-law's adopted daughter, it was not much to say that he adored her so much and indeed she was his favorite niece._

_Aiko stammered. A glint of tears strolled down her cheeks. Out of the blue, the sapphire-eyed girl flung her arms around the youkai's neck and hugged him tight. "Ojiisan…" she whined softly. _

_"Na na Reika…hush now" the sturdy demon patted the girl's head reassuringly and then caressed her soft wavy hair. He pulled Aiko from him and studied her face. Kei brushed his hand against Aiko's dreary cheek and wiped the tears away. "Don't taint your beauty with tears my dear daughter" Kei shook his head in disapproval. He will never approve any tears from the girl. All of his entire life, he had sworn to himself that he would make sure that Reika would never cry again. _

_"Now smile" Kei urged the girl as he tickled her cheek. Slowly, a sweet adorable smile appeared on her face. "Now that's better" the youkai grinned. _

_Kei reached to his vest and took out a phial from inside it. "Now Reika… I have something to give you for your journey to Okadia" Kei mentioned as he took Aiko's hand and put the phial onto the girl's palm. _

_"What's this?" Aiko studied the phial and then looked at her uncle's face, looking for the answer for her question._

_"That's a potion, love potion" he answered, almost smiling. _

_"Love potion? What was it for?" Aiko was struck dumbfounded. Was her uncle trying to mock her, knowing about how Hakkai and her had this problem of showing affections upon each other? "I don't think I need that" she declined and tried giving the phial back to Kei._

_Kei guffawed. "It's not for you baka!" Kei slapped the girl's head and Aiko mumbled and mumbled continuously. _

_ "So, it was true…you are in some kind of relationship with Hakkai-san" all this while, Kei only made a wild guess about Hakkai and Aiko's relationship. He judged it from the way Aiko's eyes gleamed every time she talked about Hakkai and how the emerald-eyed man fixed his gaze upon his niece's face._

_ Aiko blushed severely. Now there she goes again, another slip of the tongue. _

_The man laughed again at seeing the blush on Aiko's face. But then, he turned serious at instant._

_"You see…this phial contained the love potion number nine" he explained. "You could not kill any of the women and men from Okadia and Keioka but at least you can help bring them back together" Kei clasped Aiko's hand, which was holding the phial._

_"Yare yare… I don't think Sanzo-nii-chan would like the idea" Aiko just could imagine what will happen if that high ranked monk knew about the idea of bringing the men of Keioka and women of Okadia back together. The image of Sanzo with his veins popping on his forehead, his face turned crimson red, his head blowing off steams and his hand searching for the shoureijuu or the harisen quickly came to her mind. _

_Aiko hastily shook the image away with shivers. Thinking of Sanzo while he's fuming almost equaled to her worst nightmare ever. _

_"Dai jou bu da yo… if he's the same man as Koryuu that you always told me about, I knew he would agree with the idea" Kei confirmed confidently. His experience from years of living made him a man of wisdom and virtue. "He's a monk…it's his job to preach and bring good to others"_

_Aiko shook her head. "He's not that kind of monk…no, he is never that kind of monk!" she stressed desperately. Yes! Genjo Sanzo is indeed a high ranked monk, but his attitude was just not of a monk. He is far different from a typical monk. This is a corrupted monk they're talking about, a monk named Toa Genjo Sanzo Houshi._

_"Trust me Reika…I know about men than you think you did" Kei assured as he patted the girl's shoulder. Aiko's still unsure. She kept staring at the phial in her hand. "Mix the potion in their drinking water and you'll know the result in a nick of time" Kei rose up from the bedside. He glanced down to Aiko. Reaching out a hand he ruffled the young lass' hair._

_"Are you sure it will work?" Aiko asked with doubt. _

_Kei smiled. "It's love potion number nine, of course it'll work dear" he promised as he walked to the door. "Believe in the power of love" he said softly right before he pulled the door closed. _

_Aiko looked down to her hand and held the phial before her face. The transparent substance in the phial was so solid that she thought a small drop of it could give tremendous effect. _

_"Love potion number nine?"_

_- End of Flashback-_

********************************* 

"Ek?!" Goku's eyes widened at hearing Aiko's answer. "Love potion number nine? Can it be drink ne Aiko?" he asked, excitedly. Just in the matter of time, he started feeling rather thirsty. The young itan tried grabbing the potion from Gojyo.

Aiko panicked. "Iie!" she disapproved as she snatched the phial from Gojyo's hand before Goku could touch it. Aiko quickly shoved the phial back into her dress. "This is not for an underage like you…!" she scolded the boy.

"Ch! You are so mean" Goku pouted. He crossed his arms before his chest and leant to the jeep. That was a sign of protest. 

Aiko smiled. She looked at Goku's face and the boy quickly turned away with a harsh humph. The ponytails on both sides of his head swayed frantically as he made that sudden movement of his head.

Gojyo laughed like crazy. "Now you really are turning into a girl saru" he taunted the boy. Goku gave Gojyo a threatening glare and suddenly leapt over the kappa. He tugged at the kappa's hair and bit his ear fiercely. 

"Ai chi chi…!!" Gojyo hissed in pain. He tried in vain to shove the boy away from him. 

Aiko looked at the front seat. Sanzo's vein is making its appearance, again. She sweat dropped. "Ma…ma…minna-san, let's kiss and make up" she pled as she tried pulling Goku away from the struggling-to-let-go Gojyo.

"No way I'm going to kiss this perverted kappa!" Goku kept bobbing Gojyo's head while the latter kept punching him on the face. 

"And no way I'm going to kiss you saru!!!" Gojyo hollered.

"Saru teryuna!!!" Goku protested.

"Goku!!!" Aiko wrapped her arms around Goku's waist and yanked him away from Gojyo with her mightiest effort. The force made her back knocked really hard with the jeep, alas, Goku slammed onto her, hard!

"Ittei…" Aiko moaned as she clutched her spinning head. She could count the tiny winy little birds that flew around her head, chirping and twitting merrily. 'K'so' she muttered beneath her breath as she shook her head frantically, shoving the aches away.

"Gomen ne Aiko?" Goku stared down to her face with guilt. A pair of golden eyes blinked and glittered innocently. The itan crawled up beside her and lent her a helping hand when she tried to rise to a sitting position. 

Aiko smiled. "Dai jou bu da…" she laughed slightly. The girl reached for something from her sling bag and took out a kento. The kento was held out to Goku and the boy received it with the heartiest thanks. 

The mutant girl sat up straight and glanced at the monk. Sanzo looked quite at peace now. No more veins popping here and there on his face. His arms were folded carefully before his torso and there's no sign of those arms sinking into the oversized sleeve and came out again with the harisen or the shoureijuu. 

Aiko sighed. 'That's lucky'

"Ma…ma…minna-san, we're here" Hakkai exclaimed as he stepped on the brake and put the jeep on a halt, at sudden. The jeep stopped right before the entrance gate of the city. The gate was so huge that they have to look up to the sky in order to measure the height.

"Sugee!!!" Goku gawped at seeing the magnificent gate. 

The driver disembarked the jeep and walk to the entrance. Hakkai knocked on the door. It was solid steel and there's no way Harkuryuu could simply slammed on it. 

"How are we going to get inside?" Gojyo scratched his head. He looked around. Huge gate surrounded the city, making a fortress out of it. Thick forest enveloped the fortress and the height of the gate however outlasted the highest tree available. 

Aiko hopped off the jeep and walked to the entrance. She went to the side of the entrance and pulled on a rope, which rang a big bell that hung on top of the entrance. 

"I didn't see that" Hakkai grinned sheepishly. Aiko slapped her head in disbelief. 

"Yo!" suddenly a voice greeted them. A female voice. They looked up and found a woman in uniform poking her head from the guard stand on top of the fortress, looking down to them. The woman studied them and then asked "What do you want?"

"We're traveler… and we need to replenish our ration" Aiko hollered to the guard. "Can we ask for your kindness and let us do some shopping in your city?" 

The woman in uniform disappeared for a moment and then reappeared after another. She yelled down. "We'll open the gate for you!" she gestured to another woman, probably her comrade, and the latter pulled up a lever. There was a rattling sound of a steel rubbing to another and then was followed by a loud creaking noise. 

The huge door opened slowly, revealing the content of the city bit by bit. Hakkai and Aiko hopped into the jeep. The emerald-eyed man stepped on the accelerator pedal and stirred on the gear. Jippu moved slowly and entered the city. 

As soon as they entered the city, the huge door closed. The creaking noise reemerged. Gojyo dug his ear furiously. The creaking noise is giving him some sort of a pain in the head. He looked around and bewildered at seeing the scene of the city.

*********************** 

It's a normal city with abnormal residents. There was huge swarm of humans but neither one of them was a man. Guards, soldiers, vendors, stall keepers, butchers, warriors… neither any of them were not female. 

Gojyo's face turned furious fuchsia. The burning sensation was arousing in him and he felt like something bursting in his body. His hands turned cold and wet with sweats, and one of them almost swept a face of a nearby pedestrian, who they happened to drove side by side with. 

But then, his eyes were fixed into the basket that the girl held. His hand stopped at instant and it was retreated back to his side. The basket contained red ripe apples, which reminded him of Kazo.

_*" Aiko always said that my hair reminded her of an apple"_

The little hanyou's voice rang before his ears. And then the innocent remark was replaced with the loud agonizing cry that Kazo gave him when they were alone, when he rocked the boy to sleep on the very day of their arrival to Kei's bungalow. 

_"I promised you… you will be all right, I'll make sure of it"_

He gave the boy a promise and he had to keep that promise somehow, even if it means he had to sacrifice his life for it.

Gojyo turned his head around and looked down to the floor of the jeep. It's better if he did not see anything. The flame in him was swept away with the cold cries of Kazo. 'Ch! You owed me two kid'

Aiko glanced at Gojyo from the corner of her deep blue eyes. Her lips curled slightly at seeing the kappa, almost looked like he's meditating with his chest heaved up and down in a very calm rhythm. The kappa's eyes were closed. 

Hakkai smiled. He could see his friend sudden act of change; how he retreated his hand at seeing the apple; how he stood dumbfounded as if thinking of something and how he turned his gaze away to the floor of the jeep, everything was seen from the rear view mirror, which he was acquainted with since the last three month. It's the only way he could keep an eye to the redheaded and the itan to make sure they are not killing each other when he's driving. The now-a-woman youkai's smile widened even more at seeing his lover's face, smiling at Gojyo.

Hakkai drove the jeep to an inn, which is the only inn in the town. The inn was a wooden building with a fine taste of exotic architecture. One cannot find such marvelous architecture quite often in one's life. Gojyo whistled at the sight of the inn. A very eye-catchy signboard welcomed them as soon as they reached the building.

The jeep was parked just right in front of the entrance of the inn and the people boarding the green jeep hopped off of it at instant. The green machine of transportation quickly transformed into a sweet little white dragon that glided happily to his master's shoulder. Nimmiku took her usual position on Aiko's slender shoulder. She nuzzled her mistress' cheek and let out a soft comforting coo. 

Aiko chuckled and she rubbed the dragon's neck in return. Suddenly, her eyes widened at remembering something she had totally forgotten. "Hakk…I mean…Leona!" Aiko called and then looked around to make sure that neither of the ladies from the huge swarm of humans around them heard her slip of the tongue. 

Hakkai turned around. The plait that hung limply on his shoulder swayed with the movement of his head. He looked at Aiko with wonders.

Aiko walked to Hakkai's side. She leant on his side and whispered something to his ear. Hakkai's eyes widened and he abruptly turned around and looked over his shoulder, to Harkuryuu, the only male 'available' in their group. The law of the city was that all males are forbidden to enter the town, but they had completely missed out a minor part mentioned in the law; that all males including male animals. 

"Yare…yare…desune" he had to do something about the male Harkuryuu. The only thing that distinguished a female dragon and a male dragon was the sound of their coos. Male's coos tend to be firmer than the female's. "Harkuryuu… make sure you don't make any sound when there's someone else around" Hakkai looked at his pet. 

Harkuryuu nodded and puffed out tiny smokes. 

"And make sure you don't do that too…female dragons don't puff out smokes on purpose" warned Hakkai and the little dragon quickly flapped his wings and winded the smokes away. 

Hakkai smiled. "Shall we go in?" he asked as he held the door. "Ladies first" he didn't say that to Aiko, but to the monk. Hakkai held the door opened and grinned. Sanzo narrowed his eyes and sent the youkai a death glare. Grumbling endlessly, he stepped inside the inn and was followed by Goku, Gojyo and Aiko. 

Aiko winked at Hakkai when she walked passed by him. "Nice going" she giggled. "Remember, let me do all the talking since you haven't drink the potion to change your voice" Aiko reminded the dark haired youkai.

"Hai…hai!" Hakkai grinned with glee. His lover worried too much. He looked at Gojyo, who kept scratching his itchy shoulders furiously, at Goku, who kept forgetting that he was not supposed to show his masculine voice by whining 'Hata harahetta ne Sanzo' and at the same time revealing Sanzo's identity, and at Sanzo, who's hand kept going inside the cardigan to find the harisen when a woman actually could not be so violent. 'I guess Aiko had the reason to worry'

"And stop grinning like that!" Aiko nudged his side with an elbow. "A girl was not supposed to grin so much" she reminded.

"Demo… you grinned" Hakkai corrected. "And you're a girl" 

Aiko arched one fine black brow. "Anou…I was different" she reasoned. 

"How much different?" Hakkai asked, almost sneering. "From the look of it… we're not much different don't we?" he smiled in a way that almost made Aiko fell in love with him again, twice. Hakkai nudged her shoulder with his and lifted his brows, looking at her with leering eyes.

'Ek! Hakkai had turned hentai?' Aiko quickly shoved herself away from Hakkai as the man laughed slightly. 'Damn it… he tricked me again'

"Well… we're not much different, true" Aiko admitted. "But… I'm prettier than you" she chirped as she walked away to the reception counter. Aiko looked over her shoulder and smiled, which made Hakkai's smile got even wider. 

Hakkai looked at Aiko, who demanded rooms from the innkeeper. He turned the other way around and found his comrades settling themselves at one table at the diner. Hakkai made his way to the table but he was blocked by a bunch of sturdy and well-built women in uniform. From the muscles that stood out from their appearance and the weapons that they carried, it was no doubt that they were warriors.

"Well… well… look what we have here" one woman said as she leered at Hakkai from the top to bottom. "New chick in town" she exclaimed and was echoed with her friends' laughter. 

'K'so!' Hakkai cursed. He hated the way they looked at him, as if they wanted to have a taste on him. He could have sworn that they had the worst hentai look ever; the one he never saw on Gojyo's face; gleaming on their faces. 

One of the women reached out a hand to touch Hakkai's cheek but then, another hand stopped her. The hand gripped her hand tight and twisted it. The sturdy warrior woman cringed in pain and hastily aided her hand when it was let go.

"I believe this girl is mine" a figure appeared from behind Hakkai and stood next to him. "Do you mind leaving my girl alone?" Aiko said sternly. Her voice was so firm and so cool that it sent the creepy feelings down to Hakkai's spine. Aiko was so confident and it was proven when she flung one arm around his shoulder and suddenly landed a peck on his cheek. Hakkai blushed furiously.

"Am I right honey?" Aiko asked soothingly, as she stared right through his eyes. A comforting smile was displayed on her lips. Hakkai nodded eagerly, almost like a child who was scared out of his guts.

"Now will you excuse us…? We've got business to do" Aiko held Hakkai's hand and dragged him away to Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku, who were being harassed by the same way as Hakkai's but was not able to do anything, even to talk. "Now you keep away… these girls are all mine…get one of your own!" she warned as she gestured to the ikkou to rise. 

The three was left astounded at the remark but they quickly rose up and followed Aiko, who had mounted the stairs with Hakkai's hand still in hers. The innkeeper's assistant trailed the pair with her head bowed in shyness, blushing at how Aiko had treated Hakkai. 

"It looks like, we have to be her girls from now on ne Sanzo?" Gojyo said softly. Sanzo's forehead twitched and a vein popped out between the wrinkles. He reached into his cardigan and took out the harisen, which came out in a brutal whack to the kappa's head. 

"Ittei…" Gojyo hissed as he rubbed his head to cease the pounding pain.

"She's so small…wonder how she managed to get all those four" Gojyo could barely hear the astounding remark from one of the warrior woman whom they had left at the diner. He smirked and cast a glance at Aiko. She's dragging Hakkai like he was her girl. 'One thing for sure, among us four… Hakkai is her favorite'

************************** 

Now they stood in an aisle with rooms on both sides. 

"Which one is ours?" Aiko asked to the innkeeper's assistant. The tall girl took out a cluster of keys and picked two out of the bunch. She walked to one side of the aisle and put the key into a lock. 

"This is your room" she pointed to Gojyo, Sanzo and Goku, and walked to the room next door. She unlocked the door and looked at Aiko and Hakkai. "This is yours… the honeymoon suite" she held out one hand in a welcoming manner. 

Hakkai sweat dropped. He looked at Aiko with disbelief. 'She actually asked for a honeymoon suite?'

Aiko bit her tongue. "I didn't ask for a honeymoon suite… I asked only for a room with five beds" she explained, trying to untangle the matter. 

'Thank God!' Hakkai sighed a deep relief.

The girl bowed slightly. "Hai! But my master insisted on giving you this honeymoon suite…since she adored you and your lover here" She pointed to Hakkai. Aiko almost stumble to her feet at that explanation as Hakkai's sweat dropped for the umpteenth times. 

Gojyo nudged Hakkai's side and whispered something to his ears. They almost resembled two women gossiping. "This is your chance…" he said but then retreated his eyes in shame when Hakkai returned his favor with a deadly glare. 

"Sumimasen…" the tall girl with brown curly hair bowed slightly. "I have to go… enjoy your days here" she greeted them and walked away from them. 

Gojyo could feel something rather disturbing when the brown-haired girl walked passed by him. He could sense that he was being stared at. The hanyou turned around and studied the girl, who was now descending the stairs. 'There's something weird about that girl…sheesh Lord! Give me courage to survive this'

Gojyo turned to his comrades. 

"Sanzo…I think you should have this honeymoon suite" Aiko suggested. She suggested that for two reasons. First, she knew how pissed off that monk would be at having to sleep in one room along with the saru and the kappa, and they need as little rage as possible from the monk. Secondly, she could not share one bed with Hakkai…it's too taboo. 

"Yes…she's right" Hakkai supported the idea.

"Aiko… I don't think that's a good idea, the innkeeper expected you to be in one room with Hakkai" Gojyo protested. "What if she found you in another room… she will get suspicious over us" he made a sense here. 

"What's wrong if you guys were to share a room… He is your girl" Sanzo mocked the girl and turned abruptly. He stepped into the room with a slight curl flickered before his face, a smile that even Kanzeon Bosatsu would never notice.

Hakkai and Aiko sweat dropped. They looked at Goku and Gojyo with pleading looks. But the latter two pretended not to noticed and whistled as they walked into the room, trailing Sanzo and finally slammed the door closed, right before the brunettes' nose. 

"K'so!" Aiko cursed. She banged on the door fiercely. "I'll get you for this!!" she warned. Her banging caused several doors to be opened and curious heads popped out from in between them. Hakkai and Aiko sweat dropped. She stopped banging and looked around with a deep blush on her face.

"Ek! Gomen nasai!" Aiko bowed her head continuously and chuckled. Hakkai did the same thing and then clasped on Aiko's hand and dragged her into the room. He closed the door softly behind them and slammed his back to it. Aiko was next to him, dumb and struck by silence.

"So…I was your girl ne?" Hakkai looked at Aiko as he leant on one side. His brows lowered and his emerald eyes turned soothe. Aiko's eyes widened and the deep flushes of red got even deeper in red. She smiled nervously.

"Anou…" Aiko was lost of words. 

To be continue…

********************************** 

* this is uttered by Kazo to Gojyo when they first met in the second chapter of the prequel 'Surviving Life'. He resembled the color of his hair with an apple and pointed out his similarity with Gojyo. This is the starting line of where Gojyo found him as an interesting kid.

Ayie: Gosh! I was getting confused myself…I always made mistakes on addressing the ikkou with 'her' or 'she' and Aiko with 'him' or 'he'. I was having this image of Hakkai, Sanzo, Goku and Gojyo as women and it affected me to the address. Yare yare desune… 

Hakkai: It looks like Love Potion no.9 finally being introduced ne?

Gojyo: So…when will it be put in good use? smirks devilishly

Aiko: This is definitely not for you ero kappa…! whacks Gojyo's head

Ayie: Here goes… the thanking session…

**Arista Niara** – Ne? Always the first one ne? So, you find the last chap funny ne? How about this one? ^___~ Thanks for liking this fic. Gomen that I could not update this fic sooner as you had expected… I was having my examination week. Thanks ne?

**GS my dear** – Ma…ma…I missed you already. Did you have a great vacation? I hope you did ^____^…Hey! I don't know if Flora…nope! I mean Sanzo is in a very bad mood…she… I mean he seems to be enjoying this. What color are your pins? Gojyo's pink…I choose that for her…emph him. Nice one eh? [Gojyo: -___-+++]… come back soon ne? Don't make me wait. Thanks for the profiterolle…yum yum…

**Leila Winters** – it's great to know that there's new readers for this fic… I thought no new readers would read this fic since it's only a sequel…Yes! Goku really need motherly affection and Hakkai does need feminine cares and love. Thanks for reading and reviewing ne? ^_____^ 

**AliasofWestgate** – Thanks for the compliment and thanks for loving this fic…thanks for the review of Brotherly Love too. Here your wish is granted…new chappie. Don't worry ne… Gojyo will have more appearance on the later chaps. [I know you're a major fan of Gojyo] dai jou bu da… every characters have their special scene somewhere in the fic…hehe…

**Chibineko** – Well…Sorry for making you wait for so long and sorry that it took me days to post this one chap… the next chap will be updated soon since I was looking forward on writing more on Hakkai and Aiko, together, in a room…[Hakkai and Aiko: *sweat dropped*]…. Thanks for waiting and for being patient. Thanks for you concern… I will not stop this fic…


	7. Is this my voice?

Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie. 

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Ayie: Thanks for all the reviews minna-san…I really appreciated it. One thing that keeps a writer like me going is readers' support and encouragement and not to mention is to know that there're someone who like the fic. Arigatou gozamaishita minna-san… My heartiest thanks goes not only for my dear reviewers but also to the readers who came across this fic, and read it… it's a great pleasure to know that someone actually read your fic…

Sanzo: Baka onna…stop talking now, and start writing. 

Ayie: Hai! Enjoy your reading minna-san…[bows head]

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**Love Potion no.9 **

Chapter 7

_"So…I was your girl ne?" Hakkai looked at Aiko as he leant on one side. His brows lowered and his emerald eyes turned soothe. Aiko's eyes widened and the deep flushes of red got even deeper in red. She smiled nervously._

_"Anou…" Aiko was lost of words. _

Hakkai lifted one brow and smiled. Aiko chuckled edgily. She scratched her head and lifted her shoulders. The look on Hakkai's face made her shivered. Her chuckles faded away as the look stayed firm on his lover's face and there's no sign that it would vanish. She coughed nervously and lowered her gaze.

The nervous girl rolled her eyes around the room and spotted the fruit basket on the bedside table. 

"Ah! You must be hungry…I'll peel the apple for you" Aiko didn't wait for the agreement. She marched toward the table, took the knife and hastily peeled the apple. Hakkai followed Aiko's trails with his gaze and he let a sly smile appeared on his lips. The emerald-eyed man leant against the door and folded his arms around his chest. Now only he felt rather agitated with the bra straps.

Hakkai scratched one itchy shoulder. 'Gesh! Guess Gojyo was right… wearing a bra was not such a good idea'. He kept scratching.

"Hakkai" 

The youkai quickly retreated the scratching hand and kept it folded before his torso. He looked at Aiko, now with a knife in one hand and an apple on the other. "Nanda?" he asked, a pretending smile displayed on his face.

"Which one do you prefer? Green or red?" she asked and held out a green and red apple. Her eyes blinked in serenity.

"Any one" Hakkai answered blindly. He's not so in for food anyway. 

Aiko turned around and kept peeling. Suddenly she heard the sound of the key being twisted. The door was locked. Aiko gulped as she could hear footsteps advancing toward her. 

"So… here we are, only the two of us…in one room" Hakkai said calmly, but the calmness in his voice caused the other brunette to quiver and her hand slipped off the fruit she was peeling. The knife sled and cut one finger.

"Darn!" a small yelp escaped from the small cherry mouth but it evoked great alarm from the man with the plaited hair. Aiko flailed her wounded hand frantically, shaking the slicing pain away. Hakkai scurried to Aiko's side and grabbed the wounded finger. He sighed with relief, as it only happened to be a slight cut.

Hakkai lifted his gaze and it met with Aiko's wretched face. She hissed and clamped at sudden as soon as she realized she was being stared at. Hakkai smiled merrily.

"Does it hurt?" Hakkai asked. Aiko shook her head with haste and lowered her eyes with a blush. He studied the wounded finger and then sucked on it gently. Aiko's eyes widened. Hakkai winked and then kissed the finger. "Now… does it hurt?" he asked comfortingly. The deep green eyes looked marvelously radiant when they were fixed upon the deep ocean blue of his companion. 

Aiko didn't reply to that question. She just kept her mouth shut. Hakkai smiled. He swept one glowing palm onto the injured thin finger and healed the cut. "You had saved me from a group of hentai warriors today" he said. "Arigatou" 

"Unh?" Aiko still hadn't found the right word. She kept replying with slight grunts. 

Hakkai lifted his face after he was done with the healing. He stared straight to Aiko's face. One hand went up and caressed the girl's cheek softly. The raven locks were twisted around his fingers in a playful manner and then the bang on one side of her forehead was carefully swept away to the back, revealing soft soothe blue eye that gleamed magnificently despite the lack of sunlight in the shady room. 

The hand ran from her forehead, glided along her cheekbone and lastly ended under her chin. Hakkai lifted the pointed chin and made her looked at him by his face. The sapphire-liked eyeballs were lowered. The deep fuchsia on Aiko's cheeks hadn't had the chance to leave the girl's face instead it had become even more furious. 

Hakkai was about to sink his lips onto Aiko's when the girl shoved him away and then pulled herself away from him. "Aiko?" he stared at the girl with disbelief. He thought the girl would not refuse for a quick kiss.

Aiko turned the other way around. "Gomen ne Hakkai… but I feel ill at ease, you know… kissing someone in a dress" she explained. She had to admit it, she almost think she's going to kiss a girl, or may be an older sister. 

Hakkai stared down to himself and chuckled edgily. He had forgotten that he's still in his woman form. "Yare yare desune…" he sighed. Aiko turned to face him and the girl smiled. 

Suddenly Aiko rose up to her toes and kissed Hakkai on his cheek. She patted his face and smiled wryly. "I'm going to buy dinner… make sure you and your pals next door had drink the potion for your voice when I come back" she reminded and walked gracefully to the door. She unlocked the door and opened it before stepping out of the room, leaving the poor man stood dumbfounded.

******************************* 

"Ch!" 

Gojyo yanked himself away from the wall, which he had being acquainted with since the pair of brunettes entered the room next door. He had had his ear plastered to the wall, listening for every single words uttered by his neighboring teammates. 

'Here I sacrificed myself to be in one room with a blood-thirsty monk and a food-brained monkey just to give a chance to two stupid shy lovebirds to make a move… and my sacrifice was wasted' and it was followed by another irritated Tsk. 

"Oi kappa! What are you doing there?" Goku has just finished a red bean bun and was starting to gobble up another one. "Don't you know it was not nice to listen without one's consent?" Goku ended that up by stuffing one bun after another into his stretchable mouth.

Sanzo echoed that words of wisdom with a harsh 'ch!'. 'Hakkai must had taught him that' He flipped the pages of the newspaper and tried to search for an interesting headline to read at. He found none, so he just kept himself busy by reading the same article over and over. 

Gojyo grunted. He walked towards the itan and locked the kid's neck with his arm. He rubbed the boy's head with his knuckle as the latter struggled really hard to let free of his hold. "Don't preach me kono baka saru!" he said as he moved his knuckle relatively faster.

"Argh! Let me go…kono ero gokiburi!!" Goku shouted with rage. He flailed his arms frantically, trying to reach for Gojyo's outstanding antenna-liked locks. There's none, except for short fringes, which stuck out from the well-combed hair. 

The teeth and nails fight went on and on for quite some time before it caused a certain blond monk to feel rather annoyed by the noise. The newspaper was slammed hard to the table and swooshing sound was heard as the harisen came down in a lightning fast speed onto the itan and the kappa's head.

"URUSEI!!!!" came the warning, later than the punishment.

"Ittei…" Gojyo and Goku disengaged abruptly and now, sitting cross-legged on the floor, they clutched to their heads and moaned helplessly. 

"Ma…ma…minna-san, girls are not suppose to cause havoc in a town" the door was jerked open in a polite manner and a girl with turquoise cardigan and a khaki pants entered the room. 

Gojyo, Goku and Sanzo glanced to the door and sighed with relief. 'Ch! It's only Hakkai' 

Hakkai smiled his typical Hakkai's smile and walked to the center of the room, where his friends were gathering. The door was softly closed behind him, lessening the worst creaking noise possible. 

Goku rose up to his feet and tugged at Hakkai's shirt. He looked all around the brunette as if he's searching for something. At last he just lifted his face and showed Hakkai his puppy-liked eyes. "You didn't bring any food ne Hakkai?" he asked and as soon as his mouth closed, came in the grumbling sound from his churned stomach. 

Hakkai laughed gleefully. He ruffled the kid's hair with a slight trace of an amused smile. "Yada… Aiko's gone to get our lunch, she'll be back soon" he explained. 

"Why don't you go with her?" the blonde monk had retreated to his seat. He lifted the newspaper and hastily flipped the pages. "It's not usual for you to let her go alone" he exclaimed. 

"She insisted for me to stay and…" Hakkai retrieved something from his pocket and carefully pulled it out in the open. Neither Sanzo, nor Gojyo nor Goku liked the sound of his voice, especially when it was accompanied by his act of getting something from his pocket. Knowing Hakkai, they won't like the outcome at all.  

"…make you guys drink this" the brunette with the eyes so green that it shamed the green emerald held out one phial that contained blue liquid. The men before him gaped with surprise. They held their jaw loose and sweat dropped.

"What the hell was that?" asked Gojyo, pointing his forefinger to the phial. He hated the grin on Hakkai's face. He hated it when Hakkai acted as their medicine man. Most of all, he hated Hakkai's medicine because the taste was absolutely terrible.

"Iie!!!" Goku leapt away from the floor and scuttled around the bed. He stood on the other side of the bed, snatched the blanket and wrapped it around his skinny body. Eating or drinking anything that bore much resemblance to medicine made his stomach twisted in a very displeasing manner. 

"Kyu!!" Harkuryuu and Nimmiku flew to Goku and flapped their wings. They nuzzled the boy's body and bit on the hem of the blanket, trying to pull the piece of knitted woolen cloth off Goku as the latter tried really hard to remain covered. 

"Ch! Another antibiotic for a spreading disease?" Sanzo mocked as he flicked the ashes on his cigarette tips to the ashtray. The ashtray was filled to the brim with cigarette's buts. 

"Yare yare desune" Hakkai chuckled edgily with one hand brushing the back of his head. "This is not an antibiotic or any medicine…it's just a potion" he explained, as simple as possible so not to make his comrades confused or jerked back with fret.

"What potion?" Gojyo scrambled to his feet and took several steps closer to Hakkai. He inspected the phial, and looked up to Hakkai. "Is this the love potion Aiko had talked about before?" he asked, rather demanding.

"Wha-…" Hakkai stopped immediately. "No…this is not that sort of potion" he denied. 'Love potion?' Hakkai never heard Aiko talked about any love potion before but he didn't dare show his confused expression in front of his redheaded friend, feared of being mocked. He could expect what would come out of the hanyou's mouth if he were to say that he knew nothing about any love potion. 

But Hakkai was wrong, his confused expression showed somehow because the red haired man snickered and landed an elbow on his shoulder, lifting one red brow and tittered in a sneer to his face. Gojyo must have known him too well to miss the flicker of confusion he had on his face. What he'd done wrong? Was the confusion too obvious?

Gojyo smiled. Hakkai's smiles talked and this time it told him that the brunette was confused. "Na na… don't tell me you don't know anything about that love potion number nine? I thought you guys have got it all planned?" his lips curved demonic-liked. 

Hakkai sniggered sheepishly. "This is not a love potion and don't get too excited Gojyo… this potion was meant to change our voices to female's voice" he explained. Just as he had expected, Gojyo backed away a few steps and stumbled on his back. 

Sanzo's cigarette, which was firmly stuck in between his lips, fell at instant. The droopy eyes turned amazingly wide and Hakkai could have sworn that he never saw Sanzo's mouth opened up so wide like it was right now.  

"Hakkai…you must be kidding?" Sanzo uttered in sheer cold tone. It was hard to differentiate when Hakkai was actually making a joke or saying something serious with the smile that never left his face. 

"Gomen Sanzo… but no, I'm not kidding" Hakkai laughed slightly. 

"K'so!" came out the reply, as icy cold as Hakkai had anticipated. He knew his comrades for so long that he was used to the patterned response of the men. 

Hakkai clasped his hands and smiled. "Now, who's the first?" 

*************************** 

"Urgh…" the pathetic cry slipped off Kazo's trembling lips. He didn't intend to let it out but it was urged out by the pressing pain in his chest. One limp hand clung to his chest, squeezing the blanket that covered his sweaty body. His knuckle turned somewhat white and pale. 

"Kazo…" 

He opened his eyes and searched for the source. He saw someone standing by his side but the image looked no more than merely a mirage. Kazo tried really hard to stay awake but his eyes insisted to drop. He flinched and tried again. He barely saw anything at all, just a simple dark image that bent down to his face.

The consciousness is giving away to another stream of oblivion. He gasped for oxygen, which he desperately need after waves of short panted breath. His lungs refused to work obediently and his brain started to delay in sending neurons to his motors. Yet, the current of pain seemed to move real fast via his veins and spread to all over his body. He could feel the pain swelled in his muscles and tendons and damn! He didn't have the time to fight it and the pain contributed to another agonizing cry to the ceiling.

Kazo cried. He could not fight it any longer. He's losing at each time the pain struck. He began to forfeit, giving away to death. 

_"Oi kiddo!"_ Matte! It's _his_ voice.  

_"Hang on there kiddo"_ the voice? He's not supposed to hear it. Is he hallucinating? 

_"I'll come back for you…I'll come back with the cure"_ it's him again. Kazo clutched to his head and braced himself. The voice gave him courage to fight the agony. He curled into a ball and hugged himself tight to stop the violent shakes. 

_"Don't die coz you owed me a lot"_ A thin, yet comforting smile curled over his paled lips when he heard the words. Kazo closed his eyes and a slow hissed escaped his mouth. 

"Gojyo…anou baka" he retired into a restless sleep, amazingly with a smile curling upon his cold dry lips. 

Kei sighed with relief at seeing Kazo's sleeping again. For a while he thought the boy is going to give up with his fight and die. He muffled the curling boy with a thick blanket and caressed the young hanyou's head. The fever hadn't ceased. It's going up and up. He sank to the boy's bedside. 

Kazo's sickness got worse at each seconds and the disease worked faster in him than in the other kids. Kei smiled at remembering the last words uttered by Kazo right before he fell asleep. 'Guess they had a special bond that none can understand'

*************************** 

"Shit!" Gojyo shook his head. 

"Excuse me?" Hakkai looked at Gojyo, astonished at his sudden curse. But Gojyo wasn't looking his way, neither at Sanzo nor Goku too, so it was obvious that the curse was not intended to any of them. The hanyou had fell to his knees, clutching his head with one hand. "Dai jou bu desuka?" he asked, worried at Gojyo's sick expression. 

"Nande monai" Gojyo shot out coldly and wiped the sweats on his forehead. His body trembled slightly as he scrambled up to his feet. 'What's up with the cries kiddo? Don't give up!' 

"Gojyo?" Hakkai didn't buy Gojyo's answer. He knew the kappa too well to believe his words. 

'Damn it! Hakkai always knew'. "Dai jou bu da yo…just a little headache" he lied, again. That's the best way to keep Hakkai's worried sentences from buzzing to his ears. Hakkai quickly understood. Second lie in one time means the hanyou was really desperate to hide the truth. Normally, Gojyo would just surrender after continuous claims from him. 

"What's wrong kappa? You look sick?" Goku appeared in front of Gojyo and peeked up to his face. His question sounded more sarcastic than worried.

"Don't call me kappa! Kono baka saru!" Gojyo bobbed Goku's head with one fist. The kid yelped and leapt away, rubbing his head with liters of curses streaming out his mouth. He went to the monk and reported to his guardian, hoping for a bit of sympathy but what he got was more bumps on the head as the monk swayed his harisen down to his head several times. 

The whacking session ended after a few tormenting seconds. Hakkai slapped his head and sighed with disbelief. Goku was now staggering all over the room, with his eyes spinning and his arms swaggering above his head. 

"Hakkai…I'll be the first to drink the potion" Gojyo offered himself, much to Hakkai, Goku and Sanzo's surprise. It's surprised him too, thinking of volunteering to drink the potion without Hakkai even need to give him the icy cold glare. If it's not because of he kept hearing Kazo's cries of pain, he wouldn't give it a damn to drink the potion. But Kazo's voice kept ringing in his ears and at one time he thought he had conversed with the kid telepathically.

"Wha- here!" Hakkai handed him the phial. Surprisingly, Gojyo pulled out the cork and gulped a quarter of the blue substance in the phial. Hakkai's eyes widened with shock. The hanyou wiped the edge of his mouth and gave the phial back to him. 

"Hey! That wasn't so bad" Gojyo claimed. He held his neck and sang a lyric out of his favorite song. His voice is still the husky one. "There're no changes" he complained as he glanced at the dumbstruck Hakkai. 

"May be it takes up to few minutes to work" Hakkai stuttered. He had missed out something about the inscription. "Gojyo…you should only drink this up to one teaspoon" he explained with worries plastered all over his face. 

"Nani?!!!" Gojyo freaked out. "Now you're telling me!" he scolded the emerald-eyed man before leaping away into the bathroom. He bent down to the sink and started throwing up. 

"Yare yare…" Hakkai sweat dropped. He brushed the back of his head and chuckled with guilt. Hakkai turned around and smiled as he confronted with Sanzo's deadly glare and Goku's widened eyes. "Who's next?" 

Sanzo replied with a harsh humph and Goku cowered at one edge of the room. That definitely means no.

"Don't tell me you're scared bouzu… where's that oh-so-brave Sanzo-sama?" Gojyo came out from the bathroom, sweeping his mouth with a flannel. His mocking really affected the monk. Sanzo's head swerved abruptly and his violet eyes shot Gojyo a death-demanding glare. Gojyo whistled as he crossed his arms behind his head. 

"Ch! Fine!" Sanzo rose up from the chair and snatched the phial from Hakkai's hand. The healer gave him a teaspoon and he quickly drank the potion according to the inscription. He handed the phial to Hakkai and turned around to execute the penalty on Gojyo. 

"WHACK!" the harisen connected with Gojyo's skull. 

"Ittei…" came the moan.

Hakkai smiled. Gojyo's insult always worked on Sanzo. He turned to Goku, who tried to sneak out from the room. "Goku!" he called out and stopped Goku's pace. Goku glanced at him and grinned sheepishly. 

"Arara saru… don't ever think of running away" Gojyo advanced to Goku in a very devilish manner, so did Sanzo. Goku was trapped between the wall and the advancing men. He sweat dropped. He looked over his shoulder; hard wooden plank, impossible to break through; he looked to his left, Nimmiku and Harkuryuu hovered the area, no way he could escape; he looked to his right, Gojyo and Sanzo had already blocked the way, passing through them means torture; and he looked to the front, Hakkai stood holding one teaspoon of the potion, he could not run. 

"Iie…!!!" he screamed as the three men and the two dragons scrammed on him. 

******************************** 

"Unh?" Ami halted. The brown haired girl looked around and kept her ears in alert. The scream definitely came from the new customers' room. What's with all the commotion? She walked nearer and raised one hand to knock the door. 

She thought she heard someone's screamed by the time she passed the room, and the voice was not womanly-liked. Ami hesitated for a while, not sure of whether to knock or to leave the matter unsolved. She turned around and was about to walk away when she decided that she could not leave it just like that. Ami turned to the door again and this time she knocked. 

****************************** 

"Gah?" the ikkou gawped and they stopped struggling. Hakkai had managed to shove the substance into Goku's mouth when they altogether turned to look at the door. Someone's knocking and looking at the time, it was obvious that Aiko was not the one who knocked. 

They froze and waited. She knocked again. How do they know that it was a she? Duh… they're the only men, remember? The ikkou looked at each other. 

"K'so!" Gojyo cursed, almost whispering. He looked down to Goku, who he had his head pinned under his knees. "Now saru… you keep quiet!" he warned as he signaled to Hakkai to take up his position. Hakkai pinned the itan's head to the floor with his palm, his mouth plastered to the wooden floor. They needed to make him stay in that position so that he didn't spit out the substance that he barely had swallowed. 

"What are you going to do?" Hakkai asked as he looked up at Gojyo, who had rose up to his feet. 

"Open the door…what else?" Gojyo asked sarcastically. 

"Are you crazy? You want to get us into trouble?" Sanzo's hand itched for the harisen. He needed to get the paper fan badly since the saru that he's pinning under him didn't stop struggling. 'One whack…one whack is enough'

"Sanzo's right Gojyo… your voice hadn't change yet" Hakkai exclaimed. 

"Relax … think of what will happen if we don't open the door" Gojyo swept his cheongsam and secured his bra and his hair. He double-checked the pins to make sure that his hair is carefully fastened. "A little act will do…" he said as he walked to the door, almost slipping his ankle to one side because of the high heels as he did so. He balanced himself and cursed silently, one hand reaching his butts, securing the underwear to its place.

Sanzo and Hakkai sweat dropped at the disgusting scene. 'Boys will be boys'

"Here it goes!" Gojyo winked as he turned the doorknob.

***************************** 

Ami was about to knock again when the door before her was jerked opened at sudden. A red haired head popped out from the slight ajar. 'It's her'. "Sumimasen desu kudo…" she bowed politely. "I was walking by when I heard someone's screaming… I hope you don't mind but is everything all right?" she smiled.

Gojyo gulped and looked down to the floor to hide his anxiety. 'Just put up your voice as little as possible'. How can he pretend to have women's voice when all that he got was a harsh husky one? 'Shesh!' Now only he regretted for having to be the first one with the bright idea of putting up an act. 

"Ojou-san?" the girl demanded for answer as she looked at Gojyo with curious look. 

Gojyo sighed. He raised his gaze and what he saw was something splendid. A pair of hazel eyes looked straight into his ruby and they seemed to glitter magnificently. It's the innkeeper assistant, the same girl who had led them to their rooms. The hanyou gaped at the beautiful face; jaw dropped as he adored the beauty.

"Ojou-san" the girl sounded rather impatient this time, alongside a very uncomfortable feeling at being stared like that. 

"Ehem!" Gojyo coughed alarmingly and what came out from his mouth freaked him out. His voice had turned soft and fragile, no more harshness. The frail in his voice shocked him out of his guts. He looked at the girl with disbelief, more to himself. 

He smiled sheepishly and the girl returned that with another warm smile. 

'The smile…' Ami felt a slight tremble in her body. She looked at the red haired girl with a pretender's smile. She shouldn't be too obvious. 

"Ah! Betsuni… just a simple you-know-what between the blonde and the little girl" Gojyo had finally built up the confidence to use his new voice. 'Hey! This is not bad…' His sudden made-up-a story had a caused a severe blush to appear on the girl's face. 'Wha-? Shit! The monk definitely going to kill me after this' A very sharp intensed feeling creeping up his spine as he felt a sharp piercing glare was cast to his back. 

"Ah! Gomen nasai… I don't know, since you didn't put up the 'Do not disturb' sign" Ami bowed numberless of time. 

"Eheh!" Gojyo grinned awkwardly. 'I am sooo dead!' "Nothing serious…just a little kiss and make up" he said, an act is an act. You just have to complete it once you've started. 

Ami felt like her blood rushed up to her face. She bowed and apologized again and again. "Gomen ne?" she looked down and backed away a few steps. "By the way… this are the extra blankets, your mistress had ordered for it a moment ago" she handed the red haired a handful of blankets. 

'Mistress? Ah! Aiko' Gojyo received the offering. "Arigatou" he greeted the girl. "I'm Go- I mean Misa…you?" and he cursed himself for the slip of the tongue. 

"Ami" she replied and walked away without even turning back to look at him.

"Shit! I'm surrounded by bunch of ladies and damn, I'm a girl myself!" Gojyo cursed silently as he watched Ami walked away. He stepped back into the room and closed the door softly behind him. 

"KACHINK!" the sound of the shoureijuu clicking as it was cocked by the monk greeted him as soon as he turned into the room. He gaped at seeing the monk standing before him with the shoureijuu pointing in his direction and the saru standing with nyibou was firmly gripped in a fighting mode. 

"A little kiss and make up you say?" Sanzo smirked devilishly and Gojyo could have sworn that was the most demonic-liked smirk he had ever saw from his entire life. 

"You are so dead kappa!!!!" with that Goku charged right toward him and the shoureijuu blasted. 

To be continue…

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ayie: I don't know what's happening with FFNet, but it seems that the site provider is having some kind of problem on managing the website, the latest reviews from whom I don't have the chance to read did not appeared on the review page. Hai…hai… FFNet, gives me back my precious reviews…I hope they can do that T__T. 

Sanzo: Stop that!

Ayie: Ch! You're so mean… never mind, thanks for the reviews minna-san. For this chap, I strongly suggested to all reviewers to save your reviews for a few days more or else your effort on writing the review will become a waste…I feared that your reviews will not appear on the review page like the last one.

**Vex** – Well, the movie Love Potion no.9 is somewhat ancient, it was shown in the late 1980s staring Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan, in this movie Bullock plays the character of a psycho biologist and Donovan is a lonely biochemist. Somehow, they found out about this Love Potion no.9, a gypsy's mysterious potion and tested it on chimpanzees. The marvelous result made them test it on themselves. The result? Lots and lots of men and women fall in love with them and this caused havoc, but deep down inside down, true love evoked upon each others and they became terribly jealous at each other. So, the story begins… however this movie was rated PG-18 for the sexual content. Ehem! About the yaoi thing that Aiko had mentioned, it's only a slip of the tongue that she had made due to nervousness… nothing serious though ^_____^. Anyway, thanks for the reviews ne?

**Arista**** Niara – well, thanks a lot for having reviewed even though you're so busy. Thanks again. FFnet is giving me the same problem too… How's work? My exam is over but the assignments are mounting up and up…**

**For the unknown reviewer who's his/her review did not appear** – Whoever you are, thanks for reviewing. I'm totally grateful for your effort, blame it on the FFNet! Sheesh! Anyway, thanks for reading the fic and reviewed…I must have known you as the regular reviewers, whether it's GS-chan, or AliasofWestgate, or Leila Winters, or Sk8er boi, or Fuuei-chan, or chibineko, or anyone new…thanks a whole lot.


	8. The hazel eyes

Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie. 

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Gojyo: Hai hai! That silly girl fell ill at sudden, leaving all the fictions to delay…didn't I tell her to take care of her health…but no! She never listened to me! Baka!

Sanzo: Ch! She never listened to Hakkai, why would she listen to you anyway? 

Gojyo: -___-;;;;        Hakkai: Ma ma minna-san… don't start an argument, we need to give Ayie-san a rest don't we? She really needs one.

Aiko: Yare yare desune… I guess I have to start things up. Ayie-san has a very bad fever these few days and she's really not feeling very well. She just laid herself all day on the bed, unable to do anything even to attend a convocation feast in her college… but she did finish this chapter and was able to upload it in FFNet. Thanks for reading and reviewing this fiction…trust us, ayie-san appreciated that a lot. Arigatou minna-san…

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**Love Potion no.9 **

Chapter 8 

Aiko mounted up the stairs, holding two overloaded grocery packs that limited her view. The only visible thing for her was in the scope in between the grocery packs, which was too narrow. She planned her steps, careful not to stumble down the staircase. It was a long way down and she was sure she's not in favor of having a broken legs or perhaps a broken neck!

"Just one more" she hissed as she peeked down to her feet.

The brunette put a step forward but it was too early before the next staircase. Her foot slipped and she started to rumble down. Aiko gaped, not able to stop from falling. Bracing herself for the fall, which will hurt so much, Aiko prayed that she would land on something soft. Ridiculous! 

Out of the blue, someone grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up the stairs. Now, instead of falling down the stairs, whirling crazily and then stumbled motionless on the ground floor, she stood before the aisle; dumbfounded as any accidental survivor could be.

_"Dai jou bu desuka?"_ a voice passed by her ears and she gained her consciousness, although not to the fullest. The savior had the grip protectively on her arms. Aiko looked to her side, her blue eyes so empty that you could see nothing at all. 

A tall girl stood next to her, looking down at her worriedly. Her curly brown hair bounced softly above her shoulder. Hazel eyes rolled over and fell to Aiko's face. Her face showed anxiety and concern that Aiko thought the girl had freaked out of death. 

Aiko snapped away and bowed slightly. "Arigatou" she thanked her. _"Dai jou bou da"_ she explained and smiled to show that she's okay though she's still a little bit shaky. 

"You must be careful next time" the brown haired girl warned tenderly. More like a mother to a child. "It's a long way down there…you might end up bedded in the hospital" a warm comforting smile lied across her delicate face. 

The sapphire-eyed girl nodded obediently, making the other chuckled with amuse. Aiko blushed, realizing that she acted like a little girl, naïve and innocent, and ended up chuckling with the latter. 

"Well, you take care and enjoy your stay here" the hazel-eyed lass released her arm and walked away. But then, she turned around and glanced at Aiko. "Be careful…take care of your friends especially the blond one" and with that, she descended the stairs and disappeared from the aisle.

Aiko was left astounded. What's with the warning? What can happen to Sanzo? Aiko shook her head with wonder and started to stroll to Sanzo's room. 

"Ouch!" suddenly she felt her arm, of where the brown haired girl had grabbed, ached. She studied the sore spot and found it red with fresh bruise. As shocked as she was before, Aiko had come to realize that the girl's grip was a good tight grip. Now she remembered that as soon as she started to rumble and someone gripped her arm, she thought that someone was Hakkai, or any man available in the inn. The grip was so strong that she thought a man had saved him.

Aiko looked over her shoulders and stared at the shady staircase and then shook her head, denying all the suspicions she had playing in her mind. 

"Perhaps she fights as well" she concluded and made her way clear to the bishounens' room. 

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Hakkai studied the faces of his companions and giggled. The room had turned completely silent for the last several minutes that anyone would think that it was vacant. Neither Gojyo nor Goku made any attempt to start a fight or argument. Even Sanzo didn't make haste to whack their heads with the harisen or shoot them with shoureeiju. 

"Wha-…?" Sanzo was about to shout at Hakkai for giggling, which is forbidden at this time being, but he stopped abruptly for what came out of his mouth was a voice so frail and so tender it could melt men's heart. He clamped his mouth and turned his face away, blushing severely for the slip. 

Hakkai's smile widened. That what's bothering his companions some minutes back. It was their voice, which had completely turned frail and soft like women's. The potion had worked. Gojyo and Goku had avoided bickering to veil their voice, which meant Goku had stopped whining 'hara hetta' and Sanzo had stopped shouting 'urusei'. Sanzo was completely dumb that he cursed every time he heard his own voice. 

"Don't freaked out minna-san…your voice will change back to normal when the clock struck midnight" Hakkai assured. He studied the phial and smiled. 'Got to learn on how to mix this from Kei-san' perhaps he could use it to take a day rest from any noise that occurred every time Goku and Gojyo fight at jippu's backseat. 

No answers from any of the men. Hakkai laughed. He could not take it anymore. It was quite a pleasure to get a day of peace but he missed the bickering somehow, but this…this is too funny. 

"Go on… keep on laughing" Gojyo finally had the gut to talk. What to hide? He had already talked to a girl with his new voice. "Easy for you to say…you haven't drink the potion yet" the red headed reminded. Hakkai was so busy attending to their resistance of drinking the potion that he himself had forgotten about drinking it. 

Hakkai brushed the back of his hair and chuckled embarrassedly. "Yare yare desune" was his favorite line. 

"Never mind…he will have someone shoving the potion into his mouth after all" Sanzo's voice came out into the open and it came together with a mocking. His violet eyes leered at Hakkai blushed face. 

"Whoa…true!" Gojyo agreed with the bouzu, which was much to Hakkai's amaze. It was once in a blue moon for the monk and the hanyou to agree on one thing. Usually, they would always have an argument on…everything! 

"Sou ka…that's why you don't want to drink the potion yourself…" Gojyo teased his housemate, elbow nudged the latter's rib and smirked upon his face. "You want her to do it for you…you perverted!" he said. 

"Iie…" Hakkai tried to defend himself but what he got was more pestering from the red haired man. He surrendered and ended up slapping his head and shaking it with nervousness.

Suddenly, the door was cracked open. They jumped back with alarm, ready to fight if it happened to be any of the perverted women downstairs. Even Gojyo despised women with perverted attitude. That kind of girl was not his taste.

_"Tadaima!" _

Aiko stepped into the room, pushing the door with her slender body and almost stumble to the floor. She staggered to the bed; careful not to drop the packs she's holding. The packs were dropped on Gojyo's bed and she sighed in exhaustion. It was not a good idea to go on shopping alone. 

"Why don't you lock the door?" Aiko asked as she turned to face the men in the women's suit. She could still pictured the way the perverted women at the diner looked at her when she passed by them to get to the staircase. It was the worst _hentai_ look she had ever encountered with. "The women downstairs might rush in and assault you"

The ikkou sweat dropped. 'This girl…what does she thinks we are…weaklings?'

Aiko realized that her remark didn't evoke strings of curses or words of rage from either the monk or the hanyou. That was new. She never expected silence from both of the men. Usually, words like that could boil their blood and steamed off their heads. 

"_Are_? What's with the silence?" Aiko turned her heads here and there, looking at every faces of the men stood before her. Sanzo grunted and looked away, Goku buried his head under the pillow and Gojyo lied next to him, closing his eyes as if to sleep. Aiko scratched her head and looked at Hakkai for the explanation.

Hakkai raised his shoulders slightly and smiled. Aiko fumed over the silence. She hated it when the ikkou didn't talk. It caused her to fret.

"_Hata harahetta ne_!!!!!!" suddenly Goku burst out loud, throwing the pillow above his head somewhere on the floor. A loud grumbling sound broke into the air and he stooped down, clutching to his stomach and whining desperately for food.

The grumbling sound was not the thing that caused Aiko to stammer. It was typical of Goku. Goku is not Goku until his stomach grumbled like the thunder in the stormy night. The girl felt like her blood had rushed up to her face and reddened it furiously and she had something in her that desperately needs to come out.

Aiko's face turned somewhat blue as she tried in vain to hold back her breath. But she could not help it no more and burst out laughing like crazy. She clutched to her stomach and bent forward, laughing her lungs out. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she had to cover her mouth with her palm to control the laughter.

It's the voice that came out from Goku's mouth that caused her to laugh, not the grumbling sound. And it's a bang from Sanzo's gun that caused her to clamp. Sanzo's silvery bullet missed her cheek by an inch and she swore she saw the bullet dashing before her eyes. Aiko gulped nervously. 

"_Gomen ne_ Goku?" she looked at the downhearted kid on the bed. Goku seemed to be really hurt by her laughter. Perhaps he never thought that she would end up laughing to his voice. Not like Hakkai a moment ago. Aiko saw the grief in the young heretic's eyes and she felt guilty for it. It's not her intention to laugh at him but she could not help it. The urge was too strong.

Aiko kneeled before Goku and ruffled the boy's hair lovingly. At first, Goku smacked her hand away and turned his back to her, pouting and mumbling silently. The girl didn't give up though and kept trying. This time, she wrapped her arms around Goku's waist and kissed the kid on his temple. 

"I have a big _nikuman_ for you" she whispered to his ears and the boy turned to her right away. His eyes widened and shimmered with joy. Wide smile sprawled across his face. Aiko was relieved inside. She held the boy's wrist and put another hand into the packs, searching for something, and then came out with a large hot steamed nikuman.

Goku drooled at seeing the treat and quickly snatched it away as Aiko held it out for him. He returned the favor with a merry 'Sankyu'. The nikuman was gobbled up and was finished in a matter of a second. Goku licked his finger and looked at Aiko.

"I'm still hungry"

Aiko had expected that. She reached into the grocery packs and brought out two big nikumans and a box of bento. The treats were handed to Goku and the boy sat cross-legged on his bed and started to enjoy his meal. Aiko smiled and glanced at Sanzo. 

The beautiful monk still had today's newspaper held up before his face as if it was plastered to his hands. However, the man seemed to be restless even though he pretended to be cool and calm. Aiko smirked menacingly. She walked away from the bed and headed for Sanzo, who sat at the dining table. 

Pulling a chair, she sank herself onto it. Aiko bent forward and propped her chin on her arms, staring at Sanzo with a wicked smile. She kept staring until the man before him became completely restless and unease. But he still kept the newspaper up. 

"Sanzo, you owed me one hundred and twenty two dollar for the groceries" Aiko said as she kept on smiling. No respond from the blonde and that made her smile widened. It's time to tease the monk. 

"Not to mention the extra payment for your make-ups, your shampoo, your body lotion…"she counted her fingers and there's no sign she's going to stop counting. 

Numerous veins started to pop out on Sanzo's forehead and the blonde's brows twitched uneasily. His hand reached into his cardigan and in a fraction of a second, the harisen made its familiar appearance. It came out dashing onto Aiko's head.

"Urusei!" his voice was frail and delicate yet so strong and firm. 

"Ittei…" Aiko moaned as she rubbed her head. This man was so mean and his voice was no better than his temper. But then, she looked up to Sanzo and grinned childishly. "Your voice was great!" and she scampered to her feet, running out of the room, as soon as Sanzo took out the shoreijuu and started shooting crazily in the air. Her steps were echoed by her laughter. 

"Hakkai!" Sanzo turned to Hakkai and the latter smiled nervously. "You better take care of that girlfriend of yours or I'll have both of you dead" he warned as he slammed himself back to the chair. 

"Hai hai!" Hakkai nodded frantically. He knew when not to make the monk angry and this is one of the times. He backed away to the door and scurried out immediately before Sanzo changed his mind. 

"You better be right about this potion Hakkai…or I'll kill you!!!!" he heard the monk screamed as soon as he shut the door. He heard more blasts and Gojyo and Goku's shouting with fret coming from his companions' room as he made his way back to his room. Shaking his head, he smiled. 'Things were just the same even when they're women'.

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It took him ten minutes to convince Aiko not to get back into the next room to tease Sanzo. She was in favor of that somehow. Every minute or two, she kept rising up from the bed and walked to the door. It was his glare that stopped her at each time. 

"Why are you keep looking for trouble with Sanzo by the way?" Hakkai studied the phial he had in his hand. 

"Just for fun" she answered and sank herself down on the bed, next to Hakkai. Hakkai slapped his head with disbelief. This girl was as childish as any kids would be. He looked at Aiko and smiled. How he wished he could take the girl into his arms and cuddled her till morning comes. But with his new look things would get rather awkward for them to be in each other's arms. 

"So…you haven't told me anything about love potion number nine ne?" he asked sarcastically. Aiko gulped edgily. She shuffled her feet and looked down to her laps. "I have to ask to know about it?" Hakkai continued, rather hurt at Aiko's ignorance.

"Sorewa…" Aiko stuttered a bit. "I didn't mean to hide it from you Hakkai but I was not so sure of using it to solve our problem…I mean Kei-jii-san gave the potion to me to make the people of Okadia fall in love with the man from Keioka" she explained. 

"Do you think it will work?" he asked. Taking the girl's hand in his, he looked straight into Aiko's deep blue eyes. 

'I know the potion will…Kei-jii-san's potion never let us down before" Aiko reassured. Hakkai had to agree with the remark. He had seen the outcome of Kei's remedy and the proof was in his comrades' new voice. 

"Then stop worrying and start planning for a way to use it" Hakkai gave a solution and kissed her hand. 

"I know…" Aiko hunched her shoulders and sighed. "I hope it could be as easy as you think it is" she was worried all over. She had the reason to worry for many lives were at stakes if she were to fail the task. 

"I'm worried if our plan doesn't work" Aiko started to mumble. "What if we failed?" 

"We will not" Hakkai promised and he caressed Aiko's face. "Don't worry, we'll be just fine…Kazo will be just fine" he assured more and more. 'You're not alone…we're here with you' Hakkai looked at Aiko's hands and gripped it tightly. Suddenly his eyes fell on the bruise on Aiko's arm. He immediately rolled up Aiko's sleeve and studied the bruise. It was a fresh new bruise.

"Aiko…what happened when you're out shopping? Did someone attacked you?" he asked with great concern. Hakkai quickly flowed his ki onto the bruise and healed it right away. The bruise was gone after the green beam faded. 

"Iie…I almost fell down but a girl grabbed me by the arm and yanked me up" Aiko explained. The bruise had completely healed. Thanks to Hakkai. "Her grip was so strong that I thought it was you who had saved me" 

Hakkai's brows twitched. "What do you mean?" 

"Well…her grip almost as strong as yours…a man" Aiko bit her lips. The women in Okadia must have been so used to not having a man around that they turned to be as strong and as gallant as the men themselves. But her sense as a woman tells her that the strength of the brown-haired girl was somewhat different.

"Don't bother on it too much…"Hakkai smiled. "The next time you're going out…I'm going with you" he decided. He knew Aiko could protect herself but judging on their last encounter with Xiang, he didn't dare to take another risk. He almost lost her back then and there's no way he's letting history repeats itself. 

Aiko shook her head back and forth. "Well…I guess that could be considered, since you guys had already taken the potion for your voice" but then she realized something. Hakkai's voice was still the same. "Wait a minute! You haven't drink it!" she snapped.

Hakkai chuckled edgily. He had forgotten about the potion. However, he held up her chin in his hand and studied her face as she wondered restlessly.

"Well…perhaps you can make me drink it" he smiled and she blushed. 

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"Anything?" Goku asked as he leaned on Gojyo's shoulder. He looked at the wall as if he could see what was beyond it. 

"Nope!" Gojyo backed away from the wall. He was sure nothing happened between the brunettes next room. If something happened, he would know. An expertise he was. "I bet it'll take them forever to sleep together" he said sarcastically. 

"You've got a deal" Goku said. Betting was the last thing he wished because he could never win over his comrades. Even now, he kept wondering why he keeps losing every time they played Ja-Ken-Pon to decide who have to bring the biggest luggage when Harkuryuu was not in a mood of transforming. But now, he dared to bet since he believed on Hakkai and Aiko; that they're not cowards when it comes to love. 

"Deal!" They shook hands. 

"Ch! Baka!" Sanzo muttered as he burnt another cigarette to its butt. If anyone ever sees him right now, they might despise him for being a woman that smokes. What the hell he cared about others? He's not a woman and never will be.

"Saru! Get off me!" Gojyo shoved Goku away from his body. They had been listening to Hakkai and Aiko's conversation through the wooden wall since the latter entered their room.  

"Don't call me saru you ero gappa!" Goku pouted and kicked Gojyo on the leg. 

"Teme!!!!" with that Gojyo dashed at Goku and landed him on the floor. They struggled violently, tugging at each other's hair and biting each other's arms. 

"URUSEI!!!" Sanzo yelled at the top of his lungs. He coughed then, disapproving the frailness of his new voice. However, that didn't stop him from whacking the daylights out of Gojyo and Goku's sight. 

"Ittei…" came out the slow moans from the broken men on the floor. 

Sanzo turned around. His gown flailed gently in the air as he swerved around and headed for the window. Placing his hands on the windowsill, Sanzo bent forward and observed the view outside the room. The town was normal, no different from any other town they had stopped at except that there were no men in this one. 

Suddenly, he spotted a woman with great orange hair walking along the road, carrying basket full of flowers. Somehow, the lady seemed to realize that she was being stared at for she looked up to him and smiled sweetly. Sanzo was taken aback. He retreated from the window and stood a little further back. His heart pumped viciously. 'What the heck was that?' he cursed himself for being panic at sudden.

The high-rank monk turned to the door and twisted the doorknob. His intention was to go out of the room to get some moment of peace even though he doubted that he would get it as soon as the saru opened his mouth. 

"Sanzo…" it was just about the right time as he had expected for the saru to open his mouth. Sanzo sighed. "Where are you going? Can I come?" Goku tugged at Sanzo's robe and gave the monk his deadliest puppy look ever. His golden orbs shimmered and he beamed up to Sanzo's face. 

Gojyo smirked at the scene and waited for the bouzu to forfeit at Goku's weapon. Three months they had been together and Sanzo would only ignored the puppy look when he's out cold. 

"Uh! Okay!" Bingo! Gojyo applauded silently for Goku because his effort paid. 

"But no food!!!" Sanzo warned.

"Okay!!!" Goku chirped merrily as he trailed over Sanzo out of the room. They slammed the door closed behind them and left Gojyo alone. 

Gojyo rose up from the floor and crossed his arms at the back of his head. "I'm all alone…better take a walk myself" he said to himself and went to the door. May be he could have a drink at the inn's diner and gambled for some money. Moreover, he's running out of money already.

The door was opened and he stepped out of the room. Locking the door and keeping the key inside his pocket, Gojyo glanced at the door of the neighboring room. He shook his head with annoyance and walked away, heading for the stairs. 

"You let them together and nothing happen…you're fool Gojyo!" he mumbled and started descending down the stairs. His direction was the diner down the stairs. 

To be continue…

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Ayie: This fic is definitely going to its doom…less reviews? Less people reading it? It's okay, still hadn't affect me to write it. But WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!!???? Argh! That was the major problem…how can this fic survived when I had no idea on how to continue it…however, I'll still write it…hope it'll turn all right. 

Hakkai: Brace yourself ayie-san…don't give up now. Less reviews doesn't mean your fic sucks…and how do you know less people read the fic? 

Ayie: I don't know and I'm not saying I'm giving up…I love my fic and I won't stop writing it…this is my treasure!!! Ops! Gomen! Okay…thanks to GS-chan, my dear thanks for all your support. I needed all that badly since I'm in my worst shape right now. Arista-san…I know how busy student's life can be, make it worse if you're doing part-time job! Fueei-chan, I've read your fiction and trust me they're great! Keep it the good work. Bai bai…


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